Even in Death
by Kaimei
Summary: { AU-ish, but not really. LG. AZ. } The gang meet up with an old Ryuuzoku who's been hiding in a cave. A cheerleader spies, and just what is with the deformed squirrel!
1. Chapter One

~ A/N: I haven't thought about a sequel to KH, and this is basically a fanfic dedicated to a hardcore LG fan, who had a GREAT site for them, but it had been pulled down. I never got to say how good it was to them, face to face, so… I made this in dedication. It will be different in some parts, but a little same in others. ~

Chapter One. 

The dirt below the group was hot, and hard, the foliage around them was... nothing but a few twigs and bushes with thorns. The sky had darkened tremendously, and the shadowed figure above them watched amusedly, the smirk was evident, the being chuckled at their states, watching them rather... cruelly. Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun lied there, bleeding from many places. The biggest wound being the one on her chest where her heart would be. She made no signs of movement or even breathing. Her head hung limply to the side while more blood poured from her wounds.

Filia Ul Copt's eyes were wide open, staring into nothing, as blood rolled down her chin. Her clothing was torn and ripped in multiple places, as was her arms and legs. Her throat had been slit; and she had been dead for quite some time now. Her hair was knotted and blood stained, as she was lying in a pool of her own blood. The ryuuzoku gave no movement, and her chest did not rise, either. Zelgadis Graywords stared downward, as a hard cough came from the chimera's throat, clutching the raven-haired princess's body to him weakly.  He was covered in crimson blood, tan clothing ripped and shredded.  A soft sound escaped from him as he tried to hang on to consciousness.

Gourry Gabriev was panting, the sword's blade being pressed into the ground, holding him up, on his knees. He was also holding his right shoulder, which was bleeding, as was some other wounds on his legs, and left arm. He didn't seem to be in the best of shape. Lina Inverse had a diminutive groan flee from her throat, wincing. Her scintillating titian strands of hair were intertwined with the sanguine liquid, which was obviously identified as blood. Gashes adorned her Lilliputian bodice, and she didn't look pleased at all. She attempted to use her wounded arms to thrust herself upward from the ground; Lina wasn't the type to lie around and give up anyway, even if it did hurt tremendously. She lifted her cranium, rubicund orbs narrowed into a menacing glare.

The being lifted up the elongated wooden-like object, and phased from where he was, appearing behind Zelgadis, in a quick swing, the object went down, and cut the mere chimera in half. Once that was done, he phased behind Gourry, and drove the end into his back, the tip piercing his armor, and appearing out the front. The being pulled the object out, and phased back to where he had earlier been. Zelgadis had no time to mutter, nor say a word, as the halves collapsed to the ground. Gourry fell forward, releasing the sword. However, he muttered, and coughed, staying alive, for a few moments, as his eyes rested on Lina, and then he closed them, he lifted his head slightly, and uttered a single word; "Lina…" before his head fell, going rather still.

Lina's eyes immediately snapped open, staring at the newly deceased chimera for a moment, and then switching her stunned gaze towards the blonde swordsman. He lips parted as if she was about to speak, but all that merely came out were tiny squeaks. They were all dead; all of them... and like hell, even if she didn't come out victorious, would it be worth it? Emitting a deep sigh, Lina tore her gaze away from the corpses and finally forced herself to her feet. She wanted revenge, indeed.

The being chuckled, smiling down at the diminutive sorceress, "So... you're finally going to stand and fight, after you let your friends die, mm?" He purred, the smirk lingering on his facial expression. Lina clenched a fist together firmly; the familiar boost chant not heard being uttered from her lips as her talismans illuminated themselves with the usual crimson glow. She tried... she tried to keep them alive, she really did... but trying didn't work this time, did it? And now since they were all gone, especially her self-proclaimed protector, she wanted to perish as well… "Akumu no ou no hitokake yo. Sora no imashime tokihanatareshi... Kooreru kuroki utsuro no yaiba yo..." The being remained in the sky where he was, chuckling in amusement, "Oh, my, my, my..." He purred, his eyes remaining open, as he stared down at her. "This is quite fun, Lina, dear."

Lina snarled, sending the shadowy silhouette a venomous glower, sparks of lightning appearing around her fist; a sphere of void forming within her grasp. "Waga chikara, waga mi to narite tomo ni horobi no michi o ayuman, kamigami no tamashii sura mo uchikudak! RAGNA BLADE!" She thrusted her arm forward, the spell taking shape of the lethal, gargantuan blade, this was indeed draining her… but it didn't matter. She ran as quickly as her svelte legs took her and leaped upward, attempting to swing the massive blade of dark matter onto him.

The attack hit the being's arm and shoulder, and ripped through both, so that the arm would seem to evaporate. He seemed to laugh, using the other hand to bring up the elongated staff. "It's been fun, Lina-san, but now your life ends." He had muttered, as he drove it into her chest. Lina's sylphlike appendages released the voluminous spell, which had eventually vanished into absolutely nothing. The diminutive sorceress emitted gasp of pain, limply falling onto the mild terrain. _Gomen ne, minna... I tried..._ Shutting her eyes, the hostile Dragon Spooker took her last intake of breath, before finally passing away.

Lina jolted upright from her previous position, clutching her blanket firmly. "Whaaaaaaat... was that?" She panted a little, but rapidly calmed herself down, slumping. _That was really eccentric... never knew my imagination could generate dreams like that or something..._ She muttered, kicking the covers off her lower torso. "I need to stop watching too much TV..." Lina mused to herself, and emitted a small yawn, stretching. The ringing on Lina's alarm clock seemed to have been going for the last past four minutes, when she clearly heard the stomps up the stairs. "LINA! Waaaaaaaake up!" The older woman had ordered, pounding on her door.

Lina sweat dropped a little and quickly shut the clock off, flinching at her sibling's demand. "I'm awake, I'm awake...!" She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and eventually got off the bed, slumping towards her desk which had her uniform thrown on the chair. "If I could, I would shoot the person who invented school..." The older sibling; Luna, had been working a part time job for quite some time now, that their parents had perished. "Hurry up, you're going to make us both late. You also need to eat breakfast..." She hissed, and, with another pound, she headed down stairs to the kitchen.

Lina wrinkled her nose and quickly removed her night clothing, dressing herself into the usual school uniform. "Skirts... skirts, and MORE skirts..." She grumbled to herself, a bit annoyed. Lina was never the kind of girl that was fond of them in the first place. She quickly ran a brush through her tresses and placed her headband and earrings on, scampering out the door and to the bathroom to do her usual routine. Luna stormed up to the bathroom. "Lina! Hurry up! God... I thought -I- took long... I swear, if I'm late for work..." She growled, and stomped back down to the kitchen, where she packed a fifth lunch for Lina.

Lina gulped and rapidly finished her task, sprinting out of the bathroom. "I'm out, I'm out...!" Lina quickly darted down the stairs and slowly peeked her head into the kitchen. _I think Sis has her time of the month... and... That basically translates to--Lina-chan, you're screwed._  She sighed a little and walked into the kitchen completely, plopping herself onto a seat. Luna set a couple of plates in front of Lina. "Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!" She hissed, running around the kitchen. "When I drop you off, I have to stop by the store... Would you hurry up and eat?! I can't be late!" She shoved a candy bar into her mouth, drinking an entire cup of coffee.

Lina began digging in ravenously, for the sake of her life. Obviously, the temperamental adolescent held a gargantuan amount of fear towards her elder sister, and she valued her butt very much. Receiving a 'punishment' wasn't very fun, "I'm eating! I'm eating!" It didn't take long for the redhead to finish devouring, and once she was done, she pushed the plates away from her, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Done."

Luna shoved Lina's five lunches into her case, which she shoved into her arms. "Hurry up and go get in the car!" She hissed, snatching the keys and running upstairs for her purse. Lina nodded silently and immediately darted out of the house, stumbling towards the car. _I'm gonna have to get use to this for a veeery long while..._  She opened the car door and plopped herself inside, shutting it after she entered. She slumped a little, closing her eyes. "Homework... Schoolwork... it all equals hell..." 

In just a few seconds after she got into it, Luna appeared and locked the front door, running over and getting into the car. She set her purse down, and turned the car on, immediately backing up. "I thought you weren't allowed to wear bandana's to school?" Lina cracked an eye open, straightening herself properly. She set her case onto her lap, shrugging a bit. "That never stopped me before." Luna shrugged, and... As the signs said 45 MPH, Luna decided she had to go faster. And... Luna had pressed down on the gas, and they were now going 75 MPH. She made it across a yellow light, and upon reaching the school, jerked the steering will to the right... and the car began to spin. It stopped, with the passenger's side facing the sidewalk, and the car itself was placed correctly there. "There."

Lina was pretty much seen horrified, clutching the seatbelt firmly. "L-Luna... I think... you... y-you overdid the whole action-movie stunt!" Nodding a few times, Lina immediately opened the car and desperately stumbled out, clutching her ebony case against her chest protectively. She kicked the door shut, slumping. Luna stuck her tongue out at Lina from the car, waved, and drove off quickly. On the pavement, were the marks that the wheels left. Sadly, Lina was an hour and a half early for school.

Lina stared ahead for a moment and collapsed on her knees, holding her head. Her expression was exceedingly menacing, which revealed her nice, sharp little fangs. "Why me?! WHY?! I COULD STILL BE SLEEPING!"

~ The Seyruun house. ~

The spiffy, pink alarm clock with blue fuzzies on the top began to ring in Amelia's room. Her dad, the mayor of Seyruun, was taking a well-deserved vacation, and moved her here where she was born. Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun sat up and groggily groped around for her alarm clock to turn it off. After that was completed she just sat in bed for a few moments, trying to wake herself up fully. It was then that she remembered the dream she had which caused her to blush a little, "Maybe I shouldn't read so much shoujo manga..." She glanced at her calendar then giggled, "That's right! It's the first day of school. Which means a chance to open the doors to education and making new friends!" She hopped out of bed and slid on some fuzzy pink slippers while straightening out the wrinkles on her star print pajamas.

Her father popped in his large head. "I made breakfast, daughter!" He piped. "You've got an hour before school starts!" And he shut the door, rather cheerfully. Amelia smiled, "Alright, thanks daddy!" She was rather perky considering it was the first day of school -and- it was pretty early in the morning… She was very weird indeed! She scampered over to her closet and pulled out her school uniform, clean and crisp on a hanger. She set the outfit down on a chair in her room then went into her bathroom for the usual morning routine.

~ The Graywords Shrine. ~

The darkened room was slightly lit as the older, yet seemingly 'middle aged' man walked in. He shifted his robes as he gazed at the sleeping figure in the bed, and opened the curtains. "Wake up, it's morning. First day of your public school." He had muttered, slightly. This was Rezo Graywords, the priest of the town, who keeps 'evil demons' away, as there had been no attacks on the town since he arrived, in all truth, there had been no attacks at all. Zelgadis Graywords emitted a few grumbles, sitting up in bed.  He rubbed his eyes and yawned.  Why couldn't Rezo just keep him with home school?  "... All right... I'm up..." he murred, running a hand through his hair, he didn't want to go to school, he was much happier here... He got up and began to gather his clothes.

Rezo walked over, and gazed down at him. "Make friends, alright? And don't cause any trouble. I don't want to be called during my meditation to pick you up for getting into a fight." He chuckled, and walked out after patting his head. "You have time to get ready and dressed, so don't hurry yourself." Zelgadis sighed. "Why would -I- get in a fight... They always start it first..." He whined slightly, heading into the bathroom in his room to change.  Once he was done he came back out and searched the, already messy, room for different books and supplies to bring to school.

~ The School. ~

A group of boys walked to a tree, not too close to the red head, and not too far away, where they began to speak to each other. "So, that's the 'Fiery Chaos' that hurt my little brother? It's a -girl-?" He nearly choked at the thought, gazing at Lina. "She's so small, how could she beat someone up!" Lina didn't really notice. She was rather bored and annoyed. The hostile girl spent her first moments here at the school devouring one of her lunches, but was fiddling with the bag boredly. She finally decided to crumble it up and toss it over her shoulder, scratching her head. _Is it time to go home yet?_

The boy that had recently spoken walked over to Lina. "Oi." He jabbed her in the back. "You're Fiery Chaos, right? The girl that beat up some boys at the middle school you were in." Lina completely twirled around, gritting her teeth. Did he just TOUCH her? "Yeah, what of it, bub?" She snorted lightly, crossing her arms. He glared at her. "I'm here to kick your ass for hurting my brother..." He paused, and stared at her chest area, and began to laugh, -loudly-. "THIS... GIRL... this flat-chested GIRL beat up guys?! I can't BELIEVE this!" For a moment, all was heard was this boy's hysteric laughter, until the others began to laugh as well.

Lina twitched faintly, closing an eye. She unfolded her arms and dropped her case, cracking her knuckles. "I've seen your kind before... ALL you little dimwits do is talk smack and be perverted jerks, always commenting on the chest. Well, listen up pal. At least try a feeble attempt to come up with a DECENT insult on a girl that could easily hurt you, just like I did to your brother, ne?" She smirked faintly, nearing them. "So... how about this, should I whoop your butt now, or later?" The boy cackled, patting Lina's head. "Don't worry, little girl, we're not supposed to hit a girl like you, especially someone with no chest!" They all began to laugh again, and one or two fell over, holding their stomachs, and gasping for air.

Lina clenched her fists, and did something that'd shut them up. She promptly slammed her knee into the boy's family jewels. "I can't believe such an adorable girl like myself be forced to deal with these idiots..." The boy that was hit released a yelp, and grabbed that spot, falling to his knees. "W-why you...." He hissed, his body twitching rapidly as the other boys began to surround her. "That's not fair! Hitting below the belt!" One growled. "We'll have to teach her a lesson, then!"

Lina smiled innocently, dusting her hands off. "Well, I'd like to see you try, hm?" She placed a hand on her hip, "Let's see you little boys actually FIGHT like a man!" The boys took a step towards her, until one collapsed to the ground, which clearly shocked the others, and all jerked around to see who did it. Lina blinked repeatedly, turning her head. She too, was curious as to what occurred. "Nani...?" Gourry placed a hand on the side of his head, shaking it. "This is sad... a group of guys surrounding a girl... not very fair." The guys all snorted, and one glared at Lina. "You got your boyfriend on us? Some girl that beat up guys, I bet you got him on everyone!" He snorted, as the others glared at Gourry. The one she had hit in that spot finally stood. "Get him! Ignore the stupid flat-chest! Once we're done with him, it's payback for what she did to me!"

Lina stomped her foot. "What the heck are you talking about?! I don't even KNOW this guy, you jack--..." She immediately stopped speaking, once she actually had a good look at Gourry. _That... guy..._  Completely forgetting what was currently happening, Lina's lips curled downward to form a frown, and she just stared at Gourry intently. _That's the same guy that was in that dream..._ Gourry blinked a few times, pretty much confused. "Boyfriend? Wha?" The group was about to attack Gourry, when a teacher came by. "Oh no, not again..." She groaned. "You all! Stop!" She had yelled, and the boys all glared at Gourry and Lina. "We'll get you two again!" One had hissed, and they all ran, followed by the teacher, who was only in high heels.

Lina shook her head a little, breaking away from her trance. She blinked at the fleeing throng of males, snorting. "Jerks..." Gourry scratched his head, blinking a few times. "Err.... hey? You alright?" It was quiet now, besides a few cars showing up, but not as many as it would be, as they still had a little less than an hour for school to start. Lina bent down to grab her case, and then gazed back at him. "Yeah... but y'know, you didn't have to do that. I had the situation perfectly handled." She scrunched her nose a little, feeling something rather... eccentric.

Gourry crossed his arms, blinking still. "Well.... it didn't seem like you did from where I was, that many guys around a girl? You could have taken care of all of 'em? Sound's... kind of weird to me." Lina sweat dropped a little, "Y'know, if you haven't noticed, not every girl is helpless. Anyway!" She turned around, gazing around. "You can go back and do whatever you were doing!" However, as the blonde haired teen was about to leave, a similar boy to him, around Lina's age, popped up and grabbed Lina's wrist. "Hey there, beautiful. Wanna' grab a soda with me after school?" Gourry blinked for a moment... realizing who that boy was and twitched slightly.

Lina stared at him a little.  _At least SOMEONE appreciates my beauty..._  Lina wiggled her wrist away from his grasp, looking bored. "Not interested." He pouted a little. "Oh, come on! Let's see a movie together." He winks at her, grinning. Gourry twitched again, and walked over, grabbing his younger brother, and dragged him away, yelling back at Lina. "Sorry about that.... he's... desperate." Lina smacked her forehead, emitting a mushroom sigh. "That was completely obvious..."

~ Seyruun House. ~

Phil, Amelia's father, put some empty plates in the sink. "If we go now, you'll end up early, but then you can make sure where your classes are so you don't get lost and be late to class!" He chuckled, smiling broadly. Amelia wiped her mouth with a napkin and nodded, "Right, Daddy!" She stood out of her chair and picked up her bookcase, practically hopping with excitement, "I'm ready!" Phil nodded, and hugged Amelia. "Hurry up and go to the limo waiting outside. I'd go but..." He sighed, slumping his exceedingly large shoulders and waving a hand to the five piles of papers. "Have a good day, dear!" He cheerfully piped, smiling.

Amelia pouted slightly, "Well that's okay Daddy... Thanks I will!" She went outside and walked over the limo. She didn't wait for some driver to open the door; she opened it herself then hopped into a seat and closed the door behind her. She pointed upward somehow, despite the low ceiling that a car has. "To school for education and to meet new people!" She shouted with zeal. Now, the limo driver had to deal with this when she was going to preschool, he was quite used to it. "Yes! Onto the education!" He chuckled, and the limo was started, and he headed to the school.

Amelia placed her bookcase in her lap and hummed some cheery tune. She reached into her bookcase and pulled out a slip of paper, her schedule. She decided to examine it to figure out what classes she had in what rooms, etc, while she waited for them to arrive at the school.

~ Graywords Shrine. ~

Rezo was heading outside. "Take your bike to school, hurry up, you might be late." He yawned, and walked outside, to the shrine that lies not too far away from the small house. Zelgadis muttered and grabbed his bookcase, walking outside.  Who cares if he was late?  Its not like being late on the first day would hurt him.  He got on the bike and began to ride to school, he knew the path well since he had gone with Rezo a lot of times around to other peoples houses.  He himself had even made a few maps out of boredom, not having any real friends.

The limo pulled up, and he let her out. Once she was out, he drove off. More people were coming, so there was quite a bit of honking, and stares at Amelia who had come out of a -limo-. Amelia hopped out of the limo, but her cheery expression faded a little when she heard all the honking and saw all the stares being directed at her... She frowned slightly, what were they so mad about? Well she wouldn't let them ruin her day! She practically skipped towards the steps of the school, swinging her bookcase at her side. Lina was simply walking beside Amelia's side unknowingly, murmuring a bit to herself. _Yeah... I think I've been watching too many action movies... just a coincidence, I bet... yup..._

Well... as fate would have it, a small rock had been placed in front of the area where Amelia was walking. It was jagged, so it'd point up, and could be tripped over. Amelia slowed her skipping to a normal walk, but still continued to swing her bookcase at her side. Of course she tripped over the rock being the klutz that she is. Her hands shot out in front of her to catch herself so would only skin her hands. However, she let go of her bookcase in the process and it was sent sailing through the air where it spinned once then landed smack on Lina's head. Amelia pulled herself off the ground, wincing slightly at the stinging sensation in her hands, "Oh I'm so sorry!"

Lina released a startled yelp, wobbling a little; almost at the point of stumbling off the stares. She released a diminutive squeak, rubbing her head, "Itai... grrr... watch where you're going, girl!" She huffed a little and picked up Amelia's briefcase, holding it up. "Here." Nonetheless, she looked rather annoyed. The people that seen, began to laugh, pointing at the two girls. One of them had been one of the boys that surrounded Lina just earlier. He sneered at Lina, but cackled, and hurried off to tell the others.

Amelia looked at her hands to make sure they weren't bleeding which they weren't. She took her bookcase from Lina, "Thanks! I'm Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun! Who are you?" She smiled slightly, even if it wasn't the most conventional way of meeting someone it was still meeting someone! She frowned when she heard all the laughing then glanced around her for the source. She pointed at one of the people laughing, "How dare you laugh at the misfortune of others! That's cruel and unjust! But, hopefully if a similar experience happens to you, you'll learn the error of your ways!" 

Lina smacked her forehead.  _Who IS this girl...?_  "Lina... Lina Inverse... and let me handle this..." She snorted a little and turned around completely, "YO, MORONS! Keep laughing and I'll slice your tongue off with a butter knife and staple it to your foreheads!" Immediately, all mouths closed, and everyone ran. "This girl is insane!" "The people in white clothes should come and get her..." Amelia sweat dropped, "Well um... That was certainly a pretty... graphic way of getting them to stop laughing but it worked, Lina-san!" She felt like doing another Justice speech from the people's last few comments but ignored it for once. "Hmm… I wonder if we have any classes together?"

Lina smiled brightly. "That teaches them!" She twisted around to face Amelia, positioning her arms behind her head. "What's your name anyway?"

Sadly to say, all spots to hook the bikes up are taken, leaving Zel with nowhere to 'park' his. Zelgadis glared at the other bikes.  "Tch. Those people should take cars!"  He got off his and looked around, staring at Amelia and Lina for a second... they... were familiar... oh well.  He probably saw them on one of his trips.  He shrugged and continued looking for a place to put his bike; he couldn't just leave it out! A girl... with an extremely large chest walked over and removed a too girly bike. "You can use mine." She winked at Zel, and giggled, moving away with her bike, waving her hips as she went.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and blushed slightly, staring after her. He shook his head and put the bike in the spot.  _Some people are just weird_, he thought as he began to walk to the door of the school, past Amelia and Lina. School passed rather slowly, and, oddly enough, Lina and Amelia had all the same classes. It is now lunch, and everyone else can clearly meet now. Amelia came out of the line for lunch with a tray of nice 'healthy' cafeteria food. She scanned around the cafeteria and was lucky enough to find an empty table where she sat down. Lina squealed a little and plopped herself down in Amelia's table, taking out her lunch from her case. "YAY! Lunch! One of my favorite times of the daaaaaaay next to breakfast and supper!" She grinned childishly, quickly opening the bags. "La ti daaaaa... oi, Amelia! What'd they give you for lunch?"

Zelgadis came out of the lunch line as well, with not a lot of food at all, and sat at an empty table near where Amelia and Lina were sitting.  He put the tray down and took out one of his books, setting it next to the tray. Gourry was just sitting somewhere, yawning, and began to eat whatever he was having for lunch. A few girls sat down at the table Lina and Amelia were in, they seemed to be cheerleaders, and a girl with long, black hair with light green eyes sat beside them. At once, the two began to speak about how cute all the football players were.

Amelia looked down at her tray and blinked, "Spaghetti... a roll... salad and jello." She sweat dropped a little at the cheerleader's conversations. She gazed around the cafeteria for no particular reason then spotted Zel and Gourry. "Lina-san, look at those two guys, sitting all by themselves! We should ask them to join us, we have plenty of room!" Lina blinked, following Amelia's gaze.  _Hm. It's that guy from this morning... and I don't know who the hell that is, but screw it… _ She shrugged a little and called out, "Oi! You two, the one with the long blonde hair, and the other one with the book!" She pointed towards Gourry and Zel, beckoning them over. "Wanna join us?" Blunt, isn't she? "And Amelia... can I have your jello?" She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes. She simply ignored the cheerleaders; she was never fond of them...

Zelgadis jerked and looked up... Who knows why they wanted him to come.  "... Ah... No thanks.  I'm fine here."  He then went back to eating. Gourry didn't seem to hear, after finishing off his lunch, he moved the tray back, placed his forehead on his arms, and began to snore. The cheerleaders continued to talk about the jocks, until the quiet one had blurted out, staring over at Gourry. "I think he's cute!" And then she blushed exceedingly, covering her mouth. "G-gomen nasai..." She whispered, lowering her head. However, this caused the other two to laugh, and pat her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Sylphiel. I'm sure he likes you too!" They all giggled, and then the one with soft brown hair gazed over at Lina and Amelia. "Oi... we have two open spots..."

Amelia frowned a little from their lack of response then looked down at her jello, which she hadn't started eating yet. "But I like jello..." She pouted, but somehow she knew that there was no telling Lina no when it came to food. She began eating and sweat dropped to herself at the cheerleader's conversation... How could they think that guy liked her when they hadn't even met? She decided not to question it... She blinked when she heard their last comment... Her... Cheerleading? ... Well she certainly was the type and it would be fun cheering and lifting people's spirits... But cheerleaders had the generalization of being ditzy...

Lina shrugged at them. "Right, whatever. Your loss." She was going to divert her attention back towards her food, but the other female temporarily distracted her. "Nooo thanks!" Lina muttered a bit, but quickly returned to her state of bliss as she began devouring her food ravenously. Zelgadis finished his food and pushed the tray away, opening his book and reading silently... He hoped the rest of the day would go only this calmly... More so, the rest of the school year. However, the cheerleader didn't like being turned down, Lina and Amelia both looked like they would be light enough to be thrown, which she needed. She hissed at Lina, "Well, fine. We don't need a pig on the team, anyway." She snorted, and looked back to Amelia. "What about you?" Amelia was half way through her meal by then. She blinked... Again cheerleading seemed temping but... Their outfits were so... shameless. "No thanks..."

Lina ceased her eating and gave off a twitch, grabbing a plastic cup of pudding. Getting up, Lina simply dumped it on the girl's hair. "Woops... my hand slipped."  _There goes my pudding… _Zelgadis looked up from his book, sweat dropping slightly... Were they always that crazy?  He really wished Rezo had let him stay with home schooling... but at least it was interesting to watch.  He just prayed he didn't get involved. With a scream, the cheerleader jumped up, knocking Sylphiel off the bench. The woman growled, and grabbed her tray full of food, and threw the tray at Lina's face. "JERK!" She hissed, while the other cheerleader cried. "That's so mean!" Sylphiel blinked a few times, and sniffled. Amelia squeaked, pushing her only half eaten tray aside so she could stand on the table. She began waving her arms around frantically, "Stop it, Stop it!" she shouted... She hoped she could end it before it got too out of hand. Lina immediately grabbed the tray before it came in contact with her face and pushed it back, lifting her foot up to slam it against the cheerleader's stomach. "THAT'S what you get for calling me a pig, lady!"

Zelgadis began to snicker slightly; they were acting so -stupid-... The cheerleader screamed, and fell back onto the ground. "ITAI!" She yelped, as the other began to wail. "HELP! THIS LADY IS BEATING US!" Amelia sweat dropped... Well she definitely didn't want to be a cheerleader now. She pointed at one of the cheerleaders, "That's a lie! You were the first to insult Lina-san just because she didn't want to be a cheerleader so naturally she felt the need to retaliate! ... Though she did over do it..." Lina thrusted her foot straight into the girl's nose, not completely conscious of the chaos she was causing. "This teaches you NOT to mess with Lina Inverse, got that clear?!"

Zelgadis closed the book after putting one of his bookmarks in it, and watched the fighting ensue. "Lina Inverse...." Came a smooth reply from the group of teens now watching. "Why MUST you continue to cause chaos every school you go to? And why am I always hired to be your principal?" The elongated tresses of gold could be seen clearly as the woman pushed her way through. "Ms. Ul Copt!" Squealed the wailing cheerleader. "She beat us!" "I know, I know... I have seen all that happened." She rubbed her temples, giving Lina a steady glare.

Amelia squeaked slightly and quickly got off the table... Oh no. The principal? She put her hands on her face. _Oh I hope they don't call daddy... On the first day of school even!  _Lina froze for a moment, twitching.  _Eh... oh no, HER again?! NAAAAAAAANI?! Is she attempting to stalk me to make my life miserable?!  _Lina gulped and turned around gradually, placing her hands behind her and putting on the most adorable and innocent face she could put up. "Ehehe... Hi Ms. Ul Copt! Funny seeing you here, ne? Ehehe... hehe..." _In trouble on the first day of school… AGAIN... Luna's gonna murder meeee...  _Zelgadis sweat dropped and hurriedly opened his book, reading it.  He didn't want to get in trouble, oh no.

Filia stepped over, and grabbed Lina's wrist, and dragged her over, while glaring at Amelia. "You, down, now!" She grumbled, and then re-directed her glare to Lina. "You're coming with me." As Filia began to walk off, the cheerleader got up and glared at Lina. "Bye, bye, Miss Piggy! Hope you explode from eating so much!" Amelia tried to follow them, "Wait, Ms. Ul Copt! The cheerleaders instigated it! They insulted Lina-san because she didn't want to be a cheerleader... So Lina-san poured her pudding on one of them... and well you saw the rest. It would be Unjust to punish only Lina-san when they started it and tried to put their tray in Lina-san's face!"

Lina hissed and wiggled her wrist away from Filia's grasp, thrusting her middle finger out rudely towards the female. "Firebaaall--... er... nani?" She blinked a few times, briefly seeing a faint flicker of flame generating at the tip of her finger. _What in the name of..._ Of course, she was the only one who spotted the ludicrous moment. Zelgadis watched from his book, smirking slightly.  At least they are the ones that got in trouble, not him.  Rezo can't get mad at him for anything. Filia rolled her eyes, and smacked Lina lightly. "I don't care, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, but this girl ALWAYS does something, whether another person did it or not first. She has to finish it." She grabbed Lina's wrist again, and dragged her away. The cheerleader blinked. "Fireball? What the hell is that?" Sylphiel, for a moment, stared at Lina. "I think... I know her..."

Amelia frowned, "But they're exaggerating too! I'm not asking you to let Lina-san get away with no punishment but they deserve to be punished too!" Lina allowed herself to be dragged away, staring stupidly at her hand.  _I'm going insane... did I just... nah... just... my imagination! Yup...! No more video games for me! I wonder if I could do that again tho--NO! It's just my imagination... I hope... wait, no I do--WHY AM I TALKING TO MYSELF IN MY HEAD?!_  Filia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I know who they are. Once I teach this pain a lesson, somehow, I'll get to them." 

Lina shook her head quickly, diverting her attention towards Filia, "What're you gonna do to me THIS time?"

Filia grinned rather evilly at Lina. "Something painful... something not even your -SISTER- would do...." Filia had been Lina's principal, caretaker on rare occasions, for quite some time. She even knew Lina's parents before they died, as Luna and herself were good friends, and the Inverse's were one of the best of her friends, as well. After an incident when she was a teen and had an unplanned child, Filia counted on them, and that was how she met Lina.

Amelia pushed her tray away after she had confirmed that -someone-, namely herself, had stepped in it. Well Lina seemed to have a past as a troublemaker... but she still seems like a good friend nonetheless.

Lina's face went rather pale, and she began attempting to squirm her wrist away from Filia's firm hold. "N-no! C'mon Filiaaa--er... Ms. Ul Copt! I already had enough of Luna's punishment's last week! C'MON! You're my buddy, aren't'cha?!" She yelled those out, in desperate attempt to make Filia change her mind, "I'll do anything!" Filia, now entering a hall, grinned at Lina, deviously. "Oh? -Anything-, Lina?" Lina twitched faintly, her shoulders slumping. "Anything that doesn't have to do with embarrassment..." Filia dragged Lina to her office, and locked the door behind her. "I'll make it where your teachers also do not give you homework for a week..."

Lina quirked a brow, "What's the catch?" Filia smirked. "You...." Lina twitched, "I?" Filia got a cat-like expression, "Have...." Lina wrinkled her nose, "To...?" Filia began to cackle. "Clean my house, take care of Val, even though he's only three years younger, AND do his chores. You also have to go -everywhere- I go. You don't even have to do homework for a week!" Lina's head went massive. "I REFUSE!" Filia snorted, folding her arms. "Then you have detention for two months, and four months of homework, EVERY night." Lina pointed to her accusingly. "That's blackmail! You're not supposed to blackmail students!"

Filia rolled her eyes. "No one will know. And if you tell anyone, I'll simply call your sister and say you made a girl go to the hospital."

Lina whined softly, holding her head. "Demo, Filiaaaa... c'moooom..." Filia rubbed her forehead. "Fine, no chores and taking care of Val, he already hates it when I baby him. But everything else is a must." Lina closed an eye, "Can we trade the whole going wherever you go with taking care of Val?" Filia shook her head. "No." Lina released an exasperated sigh, "WHY do you need me to go wherever YOU go, huh?" She smiled. "For educational purposes. The places I go are wonderful." Lina quirked a brow, "Example, please?" Filia wagged her finger. "No." Lina tugged on her hair, "... Fine, fine. I'll do it." Filia squealed, and basically glomped Lina. "YAY!" Lina sweat dropped a little, "Oi... Filia?" She blinked a few times. "Hum?" Lina stared at her for a moment and then shook her head, "Ah... never mind."  _Maybe I AM just going insane... but I could've sworn I saw fire…_

Filia leaned against her desk, after releasing Lina, and the bell rang. "Hurry up and go to your class before you're late. I'll call Luna and tell her that you'll be home late; you'll be spending some time with me. I'll meet you at the end of school. Don't go find a boyfriend before then." She teased, winking. "And those boys that bothered you... they've been expelled from school. All of them." Lina gaped at her, her jaw literally dropping. "Naaaani?!!" She blinked a few times. "Eh?" Lina sweat dropped. "You EXPELLED THEM? I did much worse than what they did..." Filia shook her head, "They caused a few kids to get hospitalized last year, near the end. Before I came. The teachers said they might do it again, and they had been threatening you. You -are- my close friend, so I took care of them before they could hurt you or anyone else."

Lina nodded, slowly. "Oh... well, yeah. I'm gonna go get my case and go to class!" She opened the door, gazing over her shoulder. "See ya later!" And... She scurried out. The day had passed rather quickly, nothing bad happening after that talk with Filia, and the whole thing with going with Filia was to simply go to the store with her. Now, Filia was bringing Lina home. The house was darkened as Filia pulled up, besides the light flashing from the TV. Luna's car was in the driveway, yet there were no sounds coming from the house. "... Let me guess... she's having that time of the month?" Lina slumped, sinking into the seat. "Yup...." Filia gave Lina an army helmet. "How long as she been on it?" Lina placed it upon her cranium. "I think it started today..." Filia stared at the darkened house. "You... poor thing." Lina gave her a lazy glower. "I thank you for your sympathy... anyway, I should be getting inside." She opened the car door and stepped out, straightening her skirt. Filia nodded. "Good luck." Lina kicked the door shut and huffed a little, dragging herself towards the house and to the front door. Once she arrived, she grabbed the doorknob in order to check if it was either open or locked.

Filia quickly drove off, and once Lina touched the doorknob, it was unlocked; there were extremely loud wails. "NO! DON'T! IT'S GOING TO EAT YOUUUUU! WAAAAAAAAH! JOHNNYYY! SAVE HER, DAMN YOU! YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Lina flinched a little and slowly turned the doorknob, pushing it open. She quietly crept herself inside and began to cautiously walk up the stairs. All went silent, and Lina happened to step on a squeaky step.... and there was movement behind her.

Lina  narrowed her eyes a little. This is where the Dragon Spooker instincts took place... she dropped her case and immediately twisted around. "LIGHTING! ... Eer, wait..."

Luna, from the living room yelled out. "LINA! SHUT UP! I'M WATCHING A MOVIE!" However, there was a movement heading to the kitchen, but the form couldn't be seen very well.

Lina's rouge tinctured lips curled downward to form a frown, her eyebrow arched in slight puzzlement. If Luna was there... then who was that? She slowly walked down the steps once again, entering the kitchen. The form lifted itself onto the counter, and the moonlight had shined down upon it. From there, she could see the hair, similar to Luna's cut, but the color was a darker shade of purple, and rather dull. Their clothing was... different, something that seemed familiar to her, but... she couldn't place it. Lina's eyes widened considerably, planting her hand against the wall to frantically search for the light switch, her sanguine gaze locked onto the unknown silhouette. She hissed a little, narrowing her eyes.  _A robber? ...  _

The light turned on, and there sat a purple haired man, holding a staff, and a smile. His eyes are closed, and his legs are crossed at the knees. "Hello there, Lina-san. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Lina's arm dropped to the side, the frown continuing to stain her facial exterior. She took a diminutive step forward, tossing a portion of her tresses over her shoulder. "And... What do you mean by 'It's been awhile', hm?"  The individual chuckled. "You know what I mean, or have you forgotten? Which is more likely... returning to this world." He opened an amethyst eye, looking at her. "You look the same, a little younger, but the same as when we had last spoke."

Lina cocked her head to the side, her lips switching from a frown to the infamous smirk she often wore. "Look, pal... I have no idea -who- you are, or -what- you're talking about... would you just do me a favor and cut the crud?" She took note of his optics, which made her twitch. They certainly weren't normal... but they certainly were familiar. "You're not human, are you? It's either that, or you got contacts, or my mind's been warped by video games..." (Don't worry kids; video games don't warp your minds! Really!) He raised his hand, and pressed a finger against his lips. "Sore wa... himitsu desu!" And, he vanished. By this time, Luna came in, in bright, pink pajamas, and bonked Lina on the head, holding a pillow. She had been crying, so her hair was sticking to her cheeks. "Stop talking to yourself. I don't want the neighbors thinking you're insane."

Lina didn't even flinch at Luna's bonk. The Lilliputian girl looked quite bewildered, and her gaze wouldn't leave the area that the 'man' previously occupied...  _So, he isn't ningen..._  Luna blinked, and set the pillow on the table, and began poking Lina repeatedly. "Liiiiiiiina? Did you die? I don't want to be alone!" Luna began to wail, clinging to Lina's arm. "It's been so horrible without mom or dad! And now you've left me too! Why must this world be so CRUEL to me?!" Oh yes... extremely -bad- mood swings…

Lina broke away from her thoughts, startled by her elder sibling's sudden action and not completely usual change of mood. But she wasn't exceedingly surprised; Luna was often in these kinds of moods when she experienced the dreaded time of the month. Lina patted the older female's head lightly, the smirk replaced by another frown. "Don't worry! I'm right here! And now, I just think I'll go to my room and attempt to calculate how much sanity I have left before I utterly snap...." Luna whimpered, sniffling. "O-okay... if you die during the night... Remember big sister loves you!" She wailed, and grabbed the pillow, running back to the living room.

Lina smacked her forehead, the usual mushroom sigh escaping her lips. "Right, right..." _I don't know WHICH is scarier, when she's in this mood or when she's pissed off..._  Shaking her head a little, Lina gave the kitchen one last look and walked out, shutting the lights off. She began walking back up the stairs as well, and grabbed her case. Once she reached her bedroom, she immediately turned out the light to make sure no freak was lurking around it. "Eh..." The room was empty, besides her things, however... her bed looked like someone had been sitting in it recently, her clothes were moved in the closet, her chair was pulled away, and her alarm clock was also on the bed. The pillows were on the ground, and her jewelry had been thrown around on the ground.

Lina threw her case across the room, rather annoyed. "NANI?! Who the hell's been into my--... I shouldn't ask myself that... I bet it was that creep..." She growled a little and began picking up her discarded items, placing them into their rightful places. Lina's window was also half way opened, and there sat a small owl. Lina wrinkled her nose, cautiously walking over to the window. With all the grotesque events occurring to her lately, like the whole fireball and lighting shouts, along with the disappearing act the mysterious male performed, she did seem pretty paranoid. "What's a bird doing here..." The owl hooted, looking up at her with large golden eyes. Lina grumbled a little, waving her arms. "Shoo! Go away!" The owl hooted again, and flew onto her bed.

Lina twitched and stepped towards her bed, waving her arms at it frantically. "Go AWAY you feathery little…!" The owl flew off her bed, and out the window. However... it left a nice little present on her blanket. Lina tugged on her hair, emitting a frustrated yell. "GRYAAAAAH!" And so, Lina finally cleans up the mess in her room, including the owl droppings. Lina sighed a little and leaned against the wall, slumping down until she was completely seated onto the floor. "I think I just got myself in one of the biggest dilemmas without even trying..." There was a knock at her door. "Lina?" Lina Inverse blinked towards the door, scratching her cheek. "Yeah?" There was a pause, and then a groan. "Did you hear anything?"

Lina stood up, stretching. "Like?" "A scream." Came the reply from the other side of the door. Lina sat down on her bed, gazing out the window. "No, besides the one I let out when an owl crapped on my bed." There was silence, before Luna began to laugh. "A-an owl crapped on your bed?!" Lina slumped a little, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway! You heard a scream?" Luna sighed. "Mm-hm. It didn't sound like you either. Lock your door and window, keep your curtains shut, and get to bed. It could be the peeping toms again." Lina nodded to herself, kicking her shoes off. "Got'cha." Luna walked down the stairs; the creak of the single step that gave away anyone could be heard as she reached the bottom. Lina wrinkled her nose, narrowing her eyes a bit. _What is going oooon..._ She emitted a small whine and got up from her bed, shutting the window and shutting her curtains securely. "After this week's over, I have a feeling I'll be in need of psychological assistance..."

And, a storm decided to take place, and began to pour harshly. Lina banged her head against the wall harshly for a moment, "Yeah! Great! A nice storm to compliment my already paranoid mood! ABSOLUTELY LOVELY!" She huffed in annoyance and stomped towards her closet, yanking it open violently. She quickly removed her uniform and put on her usual pajamas, which were rather large on her. Thunder clapped and a few lightning flashes could be seen, and all were silent besides the storm. Lina yanked the covers off her bed and plopped herself down comfortably after shutting off the lights. She laid on her back, her eyes scanning each direction carefully as her eyes slowly became adjusted to the darkness. Yeah, she was paranoid all right.

Nothing moved in the darkness, and the rain continued to come down. The step squeaked again as Luna made her way up, and into her bedroom. Lina murmured a little, closing a lid over a ruby orb. "I'm just way too paranoid... blah... I shouldn't worry about this... I need some sleep." The storm continued, and no movements were made. Lina emitted a little yawn and finally closed the other eye, drifting off into a light doze.

~ Character Profiles. ~

(Remember, this is –just- their incarnated life. Not past-wise.)

Lina Inverse.

Nickname: Fiery Chaos.

Age: Fifteen.

Grade: Ninth, freshmen.

Attire: She wears a pair of dark blue jeans, that normally have long leggings, but she has a habit of folding them up to her knees. She wears an ordinary white shirt with a crimson stripe across the chest area, and over that is this jacket-like sweater that's black. She zippers it halfway, and rolls her sleeves up to her elbows. Her shoes are normal white sneakers, and around her waist she has a loose belt; similar to the one she has on her usual sorceress attire. She does wear a bandana on her forehead, and she does have gold earrings, they're small loops.

History: Lina's mother and father had perished in a car crash, when she was only five years old. Her sister was ten, and with the help of Filia, who, at the time, was only in her mid teens, with a child, helped raise the two girls until they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Gourry Gabriev.

Nickname: Dumb Jock.

Age: Seventeen.

Grade: Eleventh, junior.

Attire: Gourry wears a loose dark blue shirt, which is buttoned up, and slightly loose jeans, kind of baggy, and cover most of his tennis shoes, which his shoes are gray. And, sometimes, he'll wear a sweatshirt with that has a hood; the sweatshirt is black, also.

History: Gourry's father left his little brother and mother when Gourry was young, his little brother is Lina's age, so he was even younger, and doesn't remember much. Gourry's mother is also an exceedingly nice woman. Not much to say here, besides that he hasn't had much bad things really happen to him, besides losing his father.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun.

Nickname: No nickname.

Age: Fifteen.

Grade: Ninth, freshmen.

Attire: Two pink bracelets without the big blue things and white sneakers. The shirt is pink, and her pants are Capris, white. The shirt is like a normal shirt, tight and stuff. And the sleeves stop at the elbows. Two strings falling from the sleeves, transparent.

History: Amelia's mother died from an illness when she was younger, and her older sister had run away from home. Her father's the Mayor of Seyruun, but they tried to go take a break from it all by moving to the town she grew up in.

Zelgadis Graywords.

Nickname: No nickname.

Age: Seventeen.

Grade: Eleventh, junior.

Attire: Zel wears a light blue shirt, with dark purple stripes on the end of his sleeves, and the bottom of the shirt. He wears gray colored jeans, or more like a very faded blue, black sneakers and black fingerless gloves.

History: Zelgadis' mother and father left him when he was young, giving him to his grandfather. He was basically an accident, but his grandfather took care of him like he was his son. Zelgadis had been mostly home schooled, until Rezo thought Zelgadis should get more friends.

~ School Uniforms. ~

Girls: 

Imagine the usual skirt attire, however… the person that made these was quite the pervert, and the skirt ended up being extremely small, middle of their thighs area, a little shorter than that. The shirts are good size, long sleeved, and/or short sleeved. The colors of the cups of the sleeves, and that one area that sailors use… are a dark indigo color, as is the skirt.

The boys are rather simple, indigo jump suit, like in IY/YYH. That's basically all about the boys. See? Simple.

~ A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter, etc, etc… it's taken me a while to actually get it all up. My friends Rped this with me to make it better, this fanfic is all planned out, so hopefully the chapters will be uploaded more often. Because I'm not completely finished with Chapter two, there are two Reviews I have to talk about/answer. 

Lina Gabriev – Actually… I didn't put nickname there, because Zel didn't have any friends to give him one. But I'll just put no nickname anyway. Sylphiel died after the others. The murderer was tying off any loose ends; it'll be explained better in later chapters, just hold on! ^^ ~


	2. Chapter Two

~ A/N: Hope you all enjoyed chapter one. This is chapter two… again, my friends helped out. Reminder, if you're big AZ fans, you'll have to wait for that in Chapter Three. Two is all about… LG! So, hard core LG fans… this is the first chapter of their love. Enjoy! ~

Chapter Two.

The storm had died down during the night, and now it was just a little wet. Luna opened the door, and walked over to Lina, sitting down on the bed. "Lina? Wake up. You have a little over an hour before school. And, no, you cannot go back to sleep. This time, I won't get you there so early." This was a lie; Luna was fighting her hysteric notions that she would be late. "Breakfast is being fixed too."

Lina cracked an eye opened, placing a hand on her forehead. "Yeah, yeah… I'll be down..." She murmured a little to herself, gradually forcing herself into a seated position with assistance of her elongated limbs. She didn't pay attention to her sibling's words, since she was still quite exhausted. Luna hissed in Lina's ear, gripping her arm. 

"And if you are -not- down in thirty five minutes, I'm going to hurt you, baby sister, VERY painfully."

Lina's eyes immediately snapped open, her lips pressed together firmly into a straight line. Lina nodded meekly, eyeing Luna. Luna giggled, and patted her on the head. "Good girl!" Then she padded out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Lina's shoulders slumped, her rubicund gaze locked onto the door. Her eyes reduced themselves temporarily into svelte lines, removing the blankets off her. 

"She has a bad case of mood swings... I swear... that time of the month will be the end of her..." Lina placed a diminutive hand over her mouth, attempting to conceal a small yawn and swung her feet off the bed, standing up. She slumped towards her vanity mirror, scratching her head sleepily.

Lina's reflection was the only thing in the mirror, except that Lina seemed to be wearing white pajamas, and she had tears in her eyes. Also; Lina's hair had been pulled over her shoulder, as if she were brushing it. Lina blinked repeatedly, gazing at the reflection before her rather dumbfounded. She rubbed her eyes harshly and blinked at the mirror again, her arms falling to her sides. "Naaaani? What's this NOW?! I must be seeing things..." The reflection seemed to fade away, replaced with a 'picture' with her, in very... different clothing seated besides the same man she saw yesterday, but he had armor, he also looked older. It seemed like he was cooking something in a fire, and she was blushing, her hand on her chin. She asked something, but no sound came from it, and the man had fallen asleep before answering.

Lina quirked a brow, "That's the same idiot from yesterday... and the same one from my dream...!!" She neared her face closer to the mirror, twitching. "And what am I doing there in the first place?!" That one too disappeared, and then was replaced with her surrounded by multiple large men with weapons. They attacked, but were stopped by the same man that was in the last reflection, her dream, and the one from yesterday. Lina's lips formed a tiny frown, her expression revealing her current mood of utter confusion. At the same time, this all seemed rather… familiar, too familiar.

It switched once again, where the girl she had met yesterday screamed; collapsed to the ground, and seemed to curl up, before she 'died'. There was a man with blue skin, whom looked familiar, holding her. The one cheerleader she had seen yesterday stood up, and began chanting something, but she too died. Then, the one that was holding the girl similar to Amelia, got up, and ran at a child, but he fell as well... next, it was someone with a very... large hat, and then a woman with green hair.

 Lina's eyes widened considerably, twitching faintly. She stared at the scenery in front of her rather horrified. "Amelia...? Zel... Sylphiel... Martina and Zangulus..."

Now... the mirror began to flash with random memories, from a man dressed in red, to a tea-loving ryuuzoku, and more. All memories seemed to be in the mirror as it continued to flash rapidly.

Lina slowly stumbled backwards, eventually tripping and falling directly on her rear. Her gaze absolutely refused to leave the heteroclite mirror. "N-nani...?" Finally; the mirror slowed down, and stopped on a memory of Lina, being held by that man, on a halfway destroyed pillar. It stayed like that for a few moments, before it faded away, and the mirror reflected her room, as it normally did.

Lina appeared quite flabbergasted for little awhile, until she finally forced herself upon her feet, gazing down at herself. "I'm... alive...? ... Oh, Ceiphied, I'm actually ALIVE! How--whaa...?" She was still quite baffled, "The other's are alive too... and that stuff that happened yesterday--I'm not going maniacal after all!" Lina grinned widely, bunching her fists under her chin. "Guess who's back! Back again, the beautiful; sorcery genius Lina Inverse is baack! TELL A FRIEND!"

There was a sudden yell from the kitchen. "LINA! YOU'VE GOT FIVE MINUTES!"

Lina's expression of jubilance quickly morphed into one of panic and fear, "CRAP! That's riiight! EEEK!" She quickly scurried over to where she threw her uniform the previous night and dressed herself, preparing her hair and putting on her extra accessories. She grabbed her briefcase and scampered out the door and into the bathroom to complete her usual morning routine, and once that was fulfilled, she hurriedly began running down the stairs. "Coming, coming!" 

Luna glared at her from the kitchen. "Hurry up! Your lunch is done. No time for breakfast!"

Lina slumped a little, wrinkling her nose.  _It's not my fault I was unexpectedly recalling my… exceedingly HEROIC and inspiring past memories through a mirror, which appeared to be ordinary at first glance! _ Lina blinked.  _Darn! Even after death, I'm still related to Luna! ... Talk about unfortunate luck..._

Luna gave Lina a steady glare, which grew a bit, as if she knew what her sister was thinking. "Kitchen, grab your lunch, and to the car. NOW." She hissed, storming past Lina and smacked her on the head as she went. Lina emitted a startled yelp, using her currently free hand to caress her poor little cranium, "Itai...! I'm on it, I'm on it...!" She hurried into the kitchen completely and grabbed her lunch, stuffing it into her case violently. After that was achieved, she sprinted out of the house and right into the car.

Luna stormed out, locking the door and went over to the car, and opened the door. "Seatbelt on, I'm going to see if I can flip the car this time." She smirked evilly, as she climbed in, and shut the door, putting her own seatbelt on, and started up the car. Lina yawned a little, putting her seatbelt on. 

"Go ahead." She shouldn't be frightened; not anymore, she's done wild tricks with a levitation spell before. She grinned a little... it was good to have her memories back. 

Luna blinked, and leaned over, placing her wrist against Lina's forehead. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you want to stay home?" 

Lina sweat dropped, shaking her head. Surprisingly, she didn't want to remain at home. She wanted to see her friends... maybe they recovered their memory as well? She'd just have to find out herself. "Nah."

Luna sighed a little, and backed up the car. "It's not fun doing anything dangerous when you're not terrified." She murmured aloud, and headed to the school, actually going the speed limit this time. Lina smacked her forehead. If she had discovered that by saying that, Luna would cease her dangerous driving, she would've done it years ago. Unfortunately, this never occurred, and Lina felt downright stupid. 

Luna smiled from the driver's position. "Remember last year? We did a -big- ass spin, and I still parked correctly." She smirked. "I think you almost wet yourself, though." This caused her to laugh, "Your face was so funny..." 

Lina wrinkled her nose a little, looking out the glass window. "Too bad you were the only one amused..."

The car pulled up behind a white limo, and Luna blinked a few times. "Who's that? I haven't seen a limo here." The time showed that Lina had fifteen minutes before school began. 

Lina grinned brightly, opening the door quickly. "I think that's Amelia...! I'll see you later, alright sis?" She closed the door after she departed from the vehicle, scanning the area for any signs of her companions... or companions from her previous life. 

The driver got out of the limo, and went to the rear passenger's side, opening it and letting Amelia out. He gave her a note from her father, as to tell her why he wasn't at home, and that the house will be filled with people from Seyruun, so that she should find someone to go around with until eight that night. The driver bowed respectfully, and went back to the limo. Once the limo drove away, Luna left as well.

Amelia stepped out of the limo, "Thank you but you know you really don't have to do that!" She was referring to him opening the door for her. She blinked at the letter then nodded and put it in her bookcase. She glanced around, spotted Lina, and ran up to her while somehow managing not to trip. "Lina-san! Good morning!" She smiled cheerfully; she greeted Lina as if she'd only seen her just yesterday... Which she had so it was apparent she didn't know anything about her past life. "Hey Lina-san, do you want to come to the mall with me this afternoon?" 

Lina returned the smile with the same jubilance. "Oiii Ameliaa!" Blinking a little, she scratched the back of her head, shifting most of her weight to one of her legs. "Mm... Sure. Why anyway?"

A few kids passed them, and the same one that hit on her, the one that was dragged away by the blonde headed man, came up to Lina. "Hey there, beautiful. Wanna' go out with me tonight?" He's -still- rather desperate, isn't he? 

Amelia held her bookcase in front of her, swinging it a little from idleness. "Daddy's having a meeting or something at the house so I need to go somewhere until 8pm." She sweat dropped at the boy, "Shouldn't you at least get to know Lina-san better before you ask her something like that?"

 Lina sweat dropped, smacking her forehead. She closed an eye, gazing at the male. She appeared a bit flustered as well, mainly from embarrassment. "Look, I know I have the most adorable face and all that... but no, I'm not interested."

He pouted, wrapping an arm around her waist, and ignored Amelia completely. "Oh, come on! If you're not interested in me, the most handsome boy around... who -are- you interested? The most ugliest?" He laughed, and a few people who passed recognized Lina. "The Fiery Chaos likes ugly boys? Weird...." 

Amelia sweat dropped again, _Lina-san seems to be acting a little different from yesterday... I guess she's in a better mood._ She resisted the urge to point at the guy and delivered a mini Justice speech, "Its very rude and Unjust to try to force yourself on someone just because of their appearance!"

Lina released a startled yelp and jumped away from him, twitching. "Look, baka! If you can't take rejection like a man then prepare me to dragon sla--... err, kick you to Kingdom Come!" Thankfully, she ceased herself before blurting out the name of the destructive spell. 

The boy huffed, and glared at her, "Let's hope you get left out at the Prom." He grumbled, and stomped away.

Amelia shifted her bookcase to her right hand, "I hope all the guys here aren't like that... Anyway I think class is starting soon. We better hurry, I don't want to be late!" 

Lina huffed a little, placing a hand on her hip as she observed the male depart. "Moron…" She diverted her attention towards Amelia, nodding. "Yeah, I guess..." And the bell then rang. The girls got to class a minute late, but weren't in trouble, as the teacher was busy on the phone. The morning passed quickly, and the second class before lunch, Chemistry, started. 

The teacher was passing out tubes. "Zelgadis, I want you to partner up with Amelia. Remember, everyone, this class is mixed with different grades, so don't worry if you're partnered with a sophomore, senior, or freshman."

Zelgadis nodded quietly, taking a tube from the teacher.  "Yes ma'am..." He glanced to Amelia and frowned slightly... It was the same girl from lunch yesterday.  He hoped she was... calmer today.  Zelgadis didn't have any memories come back to him either... 

Amelia glanced around the room; she figured he was the guy the teacher handed to the tube to so she walked over. Once she got closer she blinked, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before... Eh probably somewhere around school, she had another chance to meet new people! She held out her hand to shake, "Hello! I'm Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun!" She beamed with her usual perky expression.

Lina blinked slowly. If Amelia were getting partnered with Zel... who the hell would she be partnered with? She shrugged lazily and plopped an elbow on the desk, placing her cheek in her palm. "Hm."  _Oh well, since those two are together… maybe they'd remember SOMETHING? Gah, probably not..._

By the time the teacher got up to Lina, she blinked. "Oh, dear... I don't have enough! Lina, go down to room 318, and ask for some more tubes, would you? When you come back, you'll be partnered with him." She waved over to a boy with spiked hair, and a HUGE ass nose. "Ask for..." She counted the heads. "Eight tubes." 

Zelgadis edged back slightly from her then slowly shook her hand.  "... Zelgadis Graywords."  Oh well... Introductions weren't that bad.  

Amelia nodded, "Nice to meet you Zelgadis-san!" She blinked to herself why did that sound familiar? She moved over to the table or desk or whatever they were supposed to sit at and looked for supplies, "... What are we supposed to do?"

Lina twitched faintly, nodding. "Right, right. Maybe I'll jump out the window while I'm at it..." She grumbled to herself and scooted off her seat, straightening her skirt uncomfortably. She quickly padded out of the room, positioning her arms behind her head. The teacher nodded at Lina, and went to the front of the class, beginning to tell everyone that had the tubes what to do. The hall Lina walked down was rather empty, though she could see someone, with a door wide open, messing around in what seemed to be a janitor's closet.

Lina simply continuing sauntering down the hallway, gazing briefly at the individual near the janitor's closet.  _Eh... right... now, where the hell's that room..._ However, as Lina passed the janitor's closet, multiple people, mainly cheerleaders, ran down the hall and shoved Lina into the one who was messing in the janitor's closet. The two fell in, and the door shut behind them. Now, the door didn't have a lock on the inside, and it automatically locks from the outside, where the only way to unlock it is. So even if you had keys... you'd be stuck inside until someone opened it from the outside. 

Lina released a yelp, twitching madly. "What in the name of Ceiphied was that about....?!" She growled a little, simply ignoring the person she was shoved into. She straightened herself and began banging on the door desperately. "OI! Lemme out! It smells in here!" 

Gourry twitched a little, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Ow... what..." He blinked a few times, looking up at Lina. "Oh... it's you…"

No one seemed to hear Lina's banging, as it remained quiet in the hall, besides the running of the cheerleaders, which soon faded. 

Lina blinked a few times and turned around. "Who the heck are--..." She froze, gazing towards him. ".... GOURRY!" She did have the sudden urge to either show her jubilance from seeing him with a hug or the usual beating, but she resisted from doing so temporarily. 

Gourry blinked again, remaining where he was. He didn't remember when he told her his name, but... then again, he didn't even remember what he came to get in the closet, anyway. "Er… yeah... that's my name."

A few people pass by now that Lina stopped banging, and they go into random classrooms, or outside of the school. Lina frowned, emitting a diminutive sigh. He most likely was like the other two; he didn't remember anything. Then again, Gourry wasn't one to remember much in the first place. And with him not remembering... it did kind of hurt, knowing that her self-proclaimed protector had forgotten her, but she was sure it wasn't his fault directly. "Ne... I never got to introduce myself properly... the name's Lina! Lina Inverse!"  _Wonder if beating him would make him remember..._

Gourry just sat there, looking at the door. "You seem to already know my name, but I don't remember telling you it..." He shifted slightly. "Guess we're locked in here?" 

Lina nodded gradually, eyeing the door behind her. "Yeah..." _I know I can open it easily with an unlock spell... demo... maybe I can make him remember some things...!_ She put up a mirthful grin, winking at him. "Well, I find out things very easily, Gourry Gabriev! Anyway..." The grin of bliss transformed into a stern frown. "Get up."

Gourry slowly stood up, blinking confusedly. "Er.... okay..." 

Lina growled a little, her sanguine optics forming a venomous glower, "BAKA!" She promptly slammed her foot down against his, "Baka, baka, baka! BAKA! I can't BELIEVE you let yourself die so easily against that... that FRUITCAKE!" 

Gourry yelped, pulling his foot back, and moving against the wall. "W... wait... what are you talking about?! I didn't die!" 

Lina simply followed him, grabbing his collar. "You SHOULD know what I'm talking about! You died, I died, Amelia, Zel and Filia died!" She yanked him down a little, "C'mon! I can't be the only one who remembers what happened!"

Gourry simply stared at her, extremely confused. "I don't know who any of those people you just said are, and I don't remember dying! I don't even really know who you are besides from yesterday morning when those guys were around you..." 

Lina twitched faintly, snorting. "Logical, logical... c'mon, at least try remembering SOMETHING! You gotta' remember me, at least! Say something that you used to say... anything! At least make a comment on the size of my bust and I'll beat you later for it! Even if I never did need one... I want my protector back!" She began shaking him harshly, somewhat whining as she spoke.

Gourry yelped again. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about!" He blinked a few times. "Well.... your chest is pretty small... but that's only from looking at it yesterday!" 

Lina stared at him after awhile, twitching, and stomping onto his foot once again, slamming her fist down on his cranium. "BAKA! That's a start... demo..." She emitted a heavy sigh and buried her face into her hands. "I don't know what I'm gonna do with you... am I gonna have to fireball you or dragon slave you... or even call you jellyfish brains again..." Her hands dropped to her sides as she gazed up at him once again, frowning. "Hm..."

Gourry yelped, whining as he rubbed his head. "Ow… ow..." 

Lina bit down on her lower lip, taking a sharp intake of air. She gradually lifted her hands up, placing them on his cheeks, and standing on her tiptoes a little. Lina pulled his head down closer to her face, and she did the unexpected... she pressed her lips against his. 

Gourry's eyes widened a little, blinking a few times as he just stood there, this was really... weird in a way, but it did seem... like he did this before with her? But he didn't meet her until yesterday... bah, Gourry was just really confused by now, but he didn't pull away, either. Lina was only semi-conscious of what she was currently doing, but since he didn't pull away or make any attempt of struggling, she took the liberty to continue, slowly slinking her arms around his neck. Gourry was still pretty confused, but he finally closed his eyes, and placed his hands on her waist, hesitantly returning the kiss. 

Lina abruptly pulled away after awhile, blinking repeatedly. Recalling on what just happened, she smacked her palm against her mouth, her cheeks consumed in a bright, rouge tincture. "A-ah... s-sorry..."

Gourry blinked a few times, not noticing the blush, or that his hands were still on her waist. "That... actually kind of reminded me of something, but I dunno what.... er... have we met before yesterday?"

Lina nodded slowly, avoiding his gaze. "Y-yeah... actually... er... but if I told you, you'd probably think I'm crazy... not like you probably don't already think that." 

Gourry shrugged, still pretty confused over the recent events that happened. "Well... I dunno what to think, right now." 

Lina shrugged a little, removing her hand away from her mouth. "Anyway... sorry about that." She muttered a bit and moved away from him, turning around completely to face the door. She took the opportunity, though, to smack her cheek, while her free hand was on the doorknob. "I'll get us out now."

Gourry lifted a hand, to scratch the side of his head. "Er... how can you get us out?" 

Lina closed her eyes, "Just watch... yukute o tozasu tobira yo, waga maryoku o motte imashime o tokihanate… Unlock." And... click. The door cracked open, and as this happened, she opened her eyes, gazing over her shoulder. "Tell anyone about this and you'll risk losing that arm of yours, is that clear?" She said this in a disgustingly sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at him. 

Gourry stepped back, nodding quickly. "Yeah...."

Lina opened the door completely and stepped out, emitting a heavy sigh as her shoulders slumped. _ That was the most STUPIDEST thing you've EVER done, Lina-chan…_

Gourry grabbed a few things, from the room, and hurried out. "Uh... thanks..." Then he quickly walked away.

Lina watched him for a bit, frowning.  _I'm such an IDIOT! Waah... why did I do that, why?! _ She whimpered softly and stepped towards the wall, banging her head against it repeatedly. "Baka, baka, baka, baka, BAKA!" 

Filia blinked as he passed her, and then gazed at Lina, in curiosity, of -why- she was hitting her head overwhelmed her, and she walked over. "Lina?" 

Lina yelped slightly and quickly ceased her actions, standing straight. "A-ah… Filia...! ... What'cha want?" 

Being quite confused, Filia placed her hands on her hips. "Why were you hitting your head? And -why- aren't you in class?!"

Lina held her head, groaning a little as she motioned her hand towards the janitor's closet. "I was sent to get extra tubes... the closet was open and some cheerleaders ran by and shoved me in..." 

Filia looked rather confused, checking Lina's head for any damage. "And then?" 

Lina shrugged. "I kept banging on the door incase anyone heard me, tried ramming it down and all that... I guess I got lucky and once I turned the knob, the door opened." 

Filia nodded, and gazed over her shoulder. "Then why did that boy come out of there -with you-?"

Lina twitched faintly. "Because when the girls shoved me in, HE was taking out some things for I don't know who, and I got stuck inside with him! What else?" 

Filia stared down at Lina, and smiled innocently. "Oh? How long?" 

Lina wrinkled her nose, a blush beginning to appear evident on her cheeks, "What's that supposed to mean?!" 

Filia loosely wrapped her arm around Lina's shoulders. "Luna would honestly hurt him badly if she found out that you were dating behind her back." 

Lina shook her head quickly, huffing. "As if I'd EVER want to date! I'm too young for that anyway, not interested either!"

Filia giggled, and hugged Lina, as the bell rang. "I suppose that means you don't have to get extra tubes." 

Lina gazed around. "I suppose... anyway, I'll be heading to my next class..." 

Filia nodded, and released Lina, walking away, before turning and winking at Lina. "Oh, and... that Gourry Gabriev -is- pretty cute. Don't you think so too?" She giggled, and turned, padding to her office. 

Lina growled and twitched, looking pretty much annoyed.  _Everyone's against me... as much as I appreciated recalling my memories; so far this day has sucked...  _Shaking her head a little, the discontent sorceress headed to her next dreaded class of doom. The rest of the day passed slowly, and lunch was even stretched out, however... the football players, and cheerleaders were nowhere to be seen, which included Gourry. The rest of school was still pretty slow, when the last bell rang.

Amelia sighed, holding her bookcase over her shoulder. As much as she appreciated the value of a good education she was glad the school day was over with. She suddenly remembered something she had been meaning to ask, "Lina-san where were you the rest of Chemistry? Were you skipping class!? Skipping class may seem like fun but it can only damage your education and your future!" 

Lina shook her head, gazing off to the side boredly. She looked a bit irritated, but that was all. "No, I got stuck in a friggen' janitor's closet. So sue me!" She huffed and hurried down the stairs quickly, scanning the area carefully.  _Haven't seen that idiot ever since... I think I scared him off..._

Zelgadis was holding his bookcase at his side, walking toward his bike while watching the ground.  He glanced to them when Lina said she had been in a janitor's closet.  Looked like someone had gotten back at her for something... he wondered in the back of his mind if she was going to get back at whoever did... 

Just then, the cheerleaders passed the three. "I hope that jerk's still stuck in the closet. You know, she deserved being shoved into it! After making my beautiful hair infected with stupid pudding..." Hissed the familiar cheerleader. Before -any- movements could be made, Filia walked over to Lina. "Are you ready?"

Amelia wasn't going to ask anymore about the janitor's closet since it seemed to irritate Lina. That is until she heard what the cheerleader's said and put two and two and two together. Being the righteous ally of Justice that she was (Or at least she thought so) she couldn't just stand by and let them insult her friends. She went into a dramatic spin, pointing at the one who had spoken. "That's cruel and Unjust! Just because she attacked you over something -you- started you play a cruel joke like that? You should be punished!"

Lina ignored the cheerleader's comment, hell, she had more thoughts inside her head that were currently troubling her, and along with confusing questions she's been asking herself. She looked up at Filia, closing an eye. "Oi... damn, Filiaaaa, I already agreed to go to the mall with Amelia--..." Lina stared blankly at Amelia's actions, twitching.  _She hasn't changed at ALL... someone shoot me, please…_  "... Anyway." She gazed back at Filia, "Can't I go to the mall, just this once?!" 

Zelgadis very quickly put some distance between himself and the girls, rather so Amelia... did ALL girls make a scene of themselves like that?!  Were they nuts?!  He sighed heavily and continued past them to his bike.

The cheerleaders ignored Amelia -completely- and piled into a large van, which drove off after the door was shut. Filia tapped her chin, blinking at Amelia. "Uhm... You're Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, right? I'll only let Lina go with you if you -PROMISE- to make sure you do some educational things! Not goof off and buy junk food and go shopping!" Filia tsked Lina. "I'll have to wait to take you to the old people's place tomorrow, then…" 

Amelia fell over anime style, looking up with large watery, wobbly eyes, "They completely ignored me!" She blinked at Filia since she hadn't noticed she was there, "Um.. Okay... I don't really know what educational things you can do at a mall but okay…"

Lina grumbled a bit, "Absolutely lovely, delightful, divine, yadda, yadda! Can we just go already?!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air, "I wanna get out of this place sometime today, at least!!" 

Filia wagged her finger. "There's a bookstore in the Mall. READ. STUDY. NO comics, though." Filia hissed at Lina, and headed to her car. 

Amelia pulled herself off the ground, sighing. She began walking on the sidewalk in the direction of the mall. "Someone really needs to teach those cheerleaders a lesson! They're so cruel and Unjust not to mention superficial just because..." She began rambling on to herself.

Lina walked beside Amelia, yawning. "Ahh, don't worry. Watch what I'll do to them next time!" She smirked to herself, folding her arms, her fingers intertwined with the briefcase's handle, "Anyway... let's ditch Ms. Ul Copt's study idea and actually do something worth our time there..." After walking from the school to the mall, which is quite some ways away, they enter the extremely large mall. Lina placed a hand on her hip, smiling childishly. "Whoo! We're here! Now, where to go first... hm..."

Amelia mushroom cloud sighed, that was a long walk! "Well... we could do some window shopping maybe? ... Why did you need to ask Ms. Ul Copt's permission to come to the mall anyway?" 

A few people brushed past them, leaving, and entering the mall. However, sitting by the fountain with a couple other people, was the green haired eleven-year-old boy. "Wish I had more money for that pack of comics..." He muttered, as the others agreed, eating their food. 

Lina nodded in agreement at Amelia's suggestion. "Yeah... that's a good idea, and oh! Well, her and I made a bargain, I have to clean her house and go wherever she goes for awhile, and skip homework for a week... this way, she won't tell my sister anything. ANYWAY!" Lina began dismissing the current subject to something else, "Let's get goin--..." Lina blinked, gazing towards the young boy. "... Val?" 

Amelia looked at Lina warily, the whole idea sounded pretty weird. She blinked innocently at Lina's outburst, "Who's Val?"

The boy blinked, gazing over at her. "Eh? Oh... hey, Lina!" He waved, smiling slightly, "I'll be back, and that's my mom's friend..." 

"She's so young..." 

"My mom has weird friends. She always had weird friends...." He mumbled, and shook his head, walking over to Lina. "I didn't know the high school was out so soon?" 

Lina smiled, ruffling his hair a little. "Yeah, well it is, fortunately for us! What the heck are you doing here anyway? Filia finally let you go out by yourself?" She smirked a little, gazing over to Amelia. "Oh! Amelia, this is Ms. Ul Copt's son, Val. Val, this is Amelia, a friend of mine."

Val stepped back, glaring at Lina. "Don't mess up the hair!" He grumbled, 'fixing' it. "Uhm, well... no... I didn't go home after school was out... I came here with my other friends." He nodded over his head to a small, skinny like boy who had a sharp nose, and a large boy. "Jiras and Gravos..." When he said those names, he shifted his eyes back to Lina, as if waiting for her expression or reaction. 

Amelia blinked, "Ms. Ul Copt has a son? I didn't even know she was married..." For the second time that day Val seemed vaguely familiar to her... Eh probably someone she had watched once.

Lina quirked a brow, "Jiras and Gr--... WHAT IN THE..." She shut up immediately, cupping a hand over her mouth. She stared at the other two, practically astonished.  _NANI?! They're back too?! Who else....!? Eesh, watch Martina and Zangulus pop out of nowhere..._ Lina calmed herself down, clearing her throat. "Yeah, anyway... Filia isn't married, hence the 'Ms' in the whole formal-teacher calling crud…" 

Amelia sweat dropped at Lina's reaction… Did she know them or something? "Well anyway, should we go now?"

Val paused, looking at Amelia, and nodded to what Lina had said, and then smirked at the redhead. He chuckled slightly, before tugging on Lina's shirt slightly, like a toddler would do. "Lina? We need to talk!" He grabbed her hand, and simply dragged her, looking over his shoulder. "Amelia... right? I'll bring Lina back... maybe not all sane, but I'll bring her back! Go keep Gravos and Jiras company for me? Thanks!" 

Lina blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Ehh? What's the big idea, Val?" She found this a little suspicious... what did this eleven year old need to speak to her about in the first place? 

Amelia sweat dropped, she glanced at the other two boys... Keep them company? She just shrugged then put on her usual perky expression, "Hi! I'm Amelia!"

Val dragged Lina to some random dark corner, where no one was passing, and let her hand go. For a moment, he stared at the ground, before folding his arms across his chest, and giving her a rather mean glare. 

Lina wrinkled her nose, returning the glare. "Don't look at me that way, squirt! Now c'mon, talk!" She leaned against the wall, folding her own arms. 

He whined a little, stomping a foot. "Don't call me squirt!" He continued to glare at her, until he finally smiled slightly. "Guess I'm not the only one that has their memories now?"

Lina's eyes basically seemed like saucers. This immediately caught her attention, and she stared at the younger child in sheer astonishment. "N-nani...? Y-you... you too?!" Lina instantly dropped her briefcase, "You remember everything before all this advance technology started appearing?! WHOO! Thank you Ceiphied! For a moment there I thought I was the only one..." 

Val nodded, and placed his hands behind his head. "About time you finally got your memories back too... remember how I always asked you questions? I got all my memories when I was five, I think... and you're fourteen...." He laughed, rubbing his head. "Well... about damned time."

Lina smiled faintly. "Lucky dork..." She chuckled a bit, gazing off to the side, "Xelloss paid me a visit last night." By the time she said that, her smile was completely wiped off her face. 

Val stared for a little bit, before slumping. "I was hoping someone had killed him while we were all dead... Especially after what he did to mom, Gravos and Jiras... -and- me."

 Lina snorted lightly, narrowing her eyes a little, "Damned fruitcake... it doesn't surprise me he's still alive, really..." She shook her head, gazing back towards him. "But hell, this time… I'm not letting any of us die again..."

Val shrugged. "You've got your magic, I hope..." He sighed, and slumped. "It's... so weird being a human.... I don't know how you and others could stand it."

Lina grinned, winking at him. "I got my magic alright, and it's been AGES since I've last casted a Dragon Slave..." She snickered and picked up her case, draping an arm around his shoulders. "You'll get used to it, being ningen ain't that bad... I have no problem with it because I have my magic right with me! HECK! I bet no one even KNOWS who Lina Inverse is anymore...!" She huffed a bit, "I need to regain my reputation..." 

Val yelped, and grabbed Lina's shirt, attempting to shake her. "NO! Mom told me ALL about what you did when I was a hatchling! Anything but blow up places! Do you see how stupid people are now?! They'd go in a panic if you start sending off fireballs, Dragon Slave's... whatever!"

Lina chuckled nervously, sweat dropping lightly, "Yeah, yeah...! I miss how it was back in the old times! Traveling and roughing it out in the wilderness... but noooo, people had to be geniuses and create all this new type of technology that makes me wanna destroy it all at the same time... even though I do enjoy most of it..." 

Val sighed, and slumped against her. "You're impossible...." 

Lina patted his head, grinning. "This new era needs a nice little mix from the old one, y'know? Currently, we're probably the only two ningen that hold knowledge of what really happened in the past! Most people think that elves, dragons... Everything else, including magic is from fables!"

Val nodded, and looked up at her. "Say... aren't you supposed to be with mom?" 

Lina shrugged. "She let me off today to come here with Amelia." 

Val at this moment... looked exceedingly horrified, he even began to pale. "T-that m-m-means...." 

Lina gave him a lazy look. "She's at home? Yup." 

His voice then seemed to transform into a squeak. "I'm going to be -GROUNDED-!" 

Lina patted his shoulder, "Let's tell her that Amelia and I picked you up from school, and that we took you with us... think that'd get you out of SOME severe punishment?"

He thought about it, and nodded. "It should... does that mean I can stay with you?!" _And it also means I might be able to con her into getting me those comics...._ He thought to himself, grinning. 

Lina winked at him, "Yup! But I ain't getting you anything. Go to a payphone and call your mom before she sends out a search party." 

Val slumped. "Can you read minds?" 

Lina stuck her tongue out at him, "Nah. You're just really obvious." 

He kicked the ground, "Then can I have some change?" Lina snorted, "Ask your two buddies or Amelia. She can't turn down a 'little boy in need of assistance'." 

Tapping his chin, Val looked back up at her. "You mean she's still justice crazed?"

Lina nodded. "Yeah, in the past she matured greatly because she was hanging around other people who weren't exactly those of justice... y'know? And without us around to whip her in shape, she's basically as justice crazed as the day I met her." Val blinked. "... And that's gotta' be scary." 

He sighed, and began walking back towards them. "I'll put on my best act, then." 

Lina walked next to him, whispering. "It doesn't take much... trust me."

 Knowing this, Val walked up to Amelia, and poked her lightly. "Uhm... excuse me?" 

Lina watched them while crossing her arms over her chest, amused.

Amelia was currently kneeling near the fountain while pointing dramatically upward. "And -that- is how you do a proper Justice speech!" She said to Jiras and Gravos. That was when Val poked her; she got out of her pose and blinked at him, "Yes?" 

The other two simply stared, one half eaten hamburger in Gravos' mouth, while Jiras was staring in midsip. 

Val put on a VERY cute face, looking up at her. "I... was wondering... if you had any change left... could I use some to call my mom? You see... I used up all of my money to buy them some food..." He looked down, disappointedly.

Amelia couldn't refuse a child in need! "Of course!" She said as she patted him on the head then fished her purse out of her bookcase, digging around in it for change. 

Lina sweat dropped, "That might actually work..." Shrugging a little, Lina decided to gaze around for anything interesting. 

Val simply waited, gazing over at Gravos, who was glaring at him. Val sweat dropped, and looked rather 'innocent', as Gravos was the one that really bought them food. Val also still had twenty-five dollars left, if he had five more, he would be able to buy the comic set.

Amelia finally pulled out the required amount of change and handed it to him. "There you go!" She said cheerfully. 

Lina yawned a little, leaning against a random wall, her gaze locked on her feet. "Hm..." 

He took it, and smiled up at her. "Thank you, miss! You saved me!" And he ran over to Lina. "If it was my mom, I'd be on my hands and knees begging her, while sobbing. Be glad she isn't that strict to you..." He muttered, and ran over to the closest payphone. 

Lina snickered a little, his comment made her grin a bit. "Yeah, yeah..." She scratched the side of her head, and then laced her sylphlike fingers into her tresses boredly.

Val put in the change, called his mother, begged... and promised something. He then hung the phone up, and walked over to Lina. ".... Now that I just saved you, you HAVE to do what I want! Or at least buy me something...." 

Lina blinked. "'Saved' me?" 

He nodded. "You're supposed to go to the library and read like your life depended on it... well, mom said that if you didn't, she was going to tell Luna about what you did with..." He grinned up at her, a fang appearing in his smirk. "-Gourry-, in the Janitor's closet earlier today in school, and that you got in a fight on the first day of school."

Lina growled a little, "I didn't do ANYTHING with that idiot in the first place! I don't see why I would WANT to in the first place! WHY can't anyone get it through their head?!" She threw her arms into the air, emitting a frustrated cry. "Grrr... she has no proof, anyway!" Though, the faint blush on her cheeks explained otherwise. 

He seen this, and followed after her. "Does that mean you'll give me five dollars?" 

Lina huffed angrily. "Like hell!" 

Val pouted slightly. "I won't tell mom!"

Lina snorted, "OI! Be lucky you aren't GROUNDED!" 

He jumped in front of her. "It's for this comic set! About this sorceress that was greedy and had a really bad temper! And then she met this idiot and they traveled around, met some rock, big fight stuff happened...!"

Lina shoved her hand into his face, "That's nice. See this hand? I can generate a NICE sphere of fire commonly known as a fireball... I know how to use it." 

"But... Liiiiiiinaaaaaaaaa...." He whined, "I just want this set! I need five more dollars!"  

Lina hesitated, "Anything in it for me?" 

"I won't tell mom that you ditched that study thing, and not having Luna mad at you... I guess I can get you something, too... mom has a credit card..." He mumbled, taking out a blue card from his pocket. "I memorized the number, and the people here know I use my mom's thing... just don't buy something that costs in the thousands!"

Lina released an exasperated sigh, folding her arms. "WHY can't you use her credit card to pay for the comic set, huh?" 

Val looked at the ground, and sniffled. "Because mom would absolutely kill me if she found out I used it to buy comics... if I buy something for you, I'd say it was because you did a LOT of studying and deserved a reward." 

Lina grumbled a bit and searched her briefcase for a rapid moment, whipping out the required amount of money. "Fine, fine. Just take Amelia and I to see a movie." 

He snatched it, and basically glomped Lina. "Thanks!! I will! Any movie you want!" He then dragged her over to Amelia. "Let's go, let's go! Sorry, Gravos, Jiras, but there's some things I gotta do with these two, you know... they need a man with them." 

The two boys laughed, and nodded. "We'll see you later..." They were more than happy to get away from Amelia simply because she scared them.

Lina smirked teasingly, prodding him, "You call yourself a MAN?! Hah! Your voice still sounds like a little girl..." 

Val glared at her, snorting. "Whatever! My voice is VERY manly!" ... In all truth, and real life... his voice did sound like a little girl. 

Amelia sweat dropped, "Where are we going?" 

Lina snickered a little, diverting her attention towards Amelia. "Movie." 

Val hooked his arms around theirs, even if it was a little awkward, and led them to the movie area. He hummed as he went, smirking. 

Amelia sweat dropped... This kid... was very weird and that was coming from her. Well she decided to humor him. "What movie are we going to?"

 Lina just yawned, gazing around lazily.  _Things changed... a lot…_

He shrugged, keeping his hands hooked around theirs. "Not sure... anything with violence, action, guns, blood, chicks, erhm, girls, and everything else mom doesn't let me see!" Then, he added quietly to Amelia. "Meaning whatever movie Lina wants to see..." 

Lina nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's see what movies they're giving first... I wanna see something scary."  

Amelia sweat dropped. She wasn't too fond of those kinds of movies, she'd much rather see a nice romance movie with a little bit of action and adventure. But she was out voted and it was only fair... "Okay."

Val stopped as they entered the movie theater part of the mall. "Well... pick."

 Lina wiggled her arm away from Val's and walked over to the movie posters, examining them closely. "Let's see... all romance movies are definitely out, along with the kiddy ones…" 

Val let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you..."

Amelia unhooked her arm as well. She pouted slightly at the comment about romance movies...

 Lina grinned, stopping at a certain zombie-infested poster. "I say... we see Resident Evil!" The sorceress declared loudly towards her two companions, trotting over to them. "You get the tickets and Amelia and I will get the seats. You're also in charge of getting us the treats! I want four super large popcorn, a strawberry slurpee, two bags of skittles and m&ms... and... four bags of twizzlers!" 

Amelia wrinkled her nose at the choice of the movie and groaned slightly, but she knew there was nothing she could do about. "Fine." She pouted and slumped a little. 

Val stared at her, but nodded. "I'll... just get a lot of everything for you both." He went up to the booth and handed her the card. "Three tickets to Resident Evil." 

The woman raised an eyebrow at him as he put his elbow on the booth and looked around as if he were 'cool'. She chuckled. "Val, who are you going to see this movie with?" Val pointed over to Lina and Amelia. "My two girlfriends." 

"Oh? Girlfriends? At such a young age?" 

He nodded. "Yeah! Aren't they cute?" 

Lina stared for a moment, "GIRLFRIENDS?! YOU DOLT! You're four years younger than me! C'MERE YOU....!" She yelled out furiously, beginning to stomp towards the younger individual.

Val yelped, and grabbed the three tickets. "She's PMSing!" He grabbed Amelia, and ran. "Hurry, before she starts being evil..." He let Amelia go, giving the man the three tickets. He ripped the tops off, and gave them to Val, who shoved them in his pocket, grabbed Amelia, dragged her again, and ran to the snack area. "Hurry up and go get seats, I hope she'll be too hungry to get me...." 

Lina sprinted after him, "VAL! Get over here you little wussy!" She shoved herself through the throng of people rudely. "Excuse me, coming through! MOVE IT!"

Val, by this time, shoved the card into the person's hand. "Give me four of everything you have!" "... Four, sir?" 

"YES! FOUR! Hurry before you end up the cause for me DYING!" The man blinked, and quickly did whatever he had to, as Val ran back and forth. Amelia got a huge sweat drop on the back of her head. She idly wondered how a little boy could drag her like that... She decided she might have to stay, incase things got out of hand and Lina was unjust to him…

Lina, once she reached the eleven year old, and simply began chasing him around. "C'mere, you! Lina-chan has a certain fireball to throw at you with your name on it!" 

Val cried, as he ran around in circles. "I was KIDDING, Lina! It was a joke! Merle didn't believe it! Of course she didn't! DON'T KILL ME! I'M TOO YOUUUUNG! I was too young to die before, too, but I still did... ANYWAY!" 

Amelia blinked she was very confused about what they were talking about, "...Fireball? Dying before?"

Lina cracked her knuckles, stopping her frantic running, "I guess we'll repeat a little history, won't we--..." Lina stopped at her words, twitching.  _We just revealed more than we should have..._  

Val didn't have time to stop running, and slammed into Lina. "ITAI!" 

The people around them stared, and shook their heads. "Nutcases..." The people behind the bar thought they were insane, as well, and simply continued filling what Val ordered. 

Lina caught him once he made impact with her, placing him in a headlock. "I should twist that nice little head off your shoulders, y'know..." She cackled a little, smirking. "But of course, I can't do that to you... be lucky I actually LIKE you enough to spare you from a fireball...!" 

He slumped in her grip, not even bothering to struggle. "Thank whomever's up there..." He mumbled, as the guys from behind the bar finished. "... Do you need help taking this to the theater room?"

Amelia just stood there with a rather odd expression on her face. There seems to be some added sound affect as she blinks, glancing between the two of them. 

Lina couldn't help but emit a small laugh, releasing Val. She patted his back harshly; a bit too violently for someone his age. "Nah, he's a 'man'. He can handle it, RIGHT Val?" 

Val squeaked, and fell on his face. Getting up, he whined. "I can't carry THAT much! Not even a GROWN man could!" 

The people behind the bar nervously laughed. "We'll help take it, then... just lead the way...."

Lina smirked. She couldn't help but be utterly amused; this kid could make anyone laugh, really. She shrugged and positioned her arms behind her head, sauntering into the theater room. "La ti da." 

Val took a tray, and followed, grumbling about how women are so picky and evil. Once in the theater, hardly any seats where taken, as the movie had been in theaters for a while now, Lina could have her own seat for all her snacks. "Place the snacks between Amelia and Lina. I'm not really hungry..." 

Lina plopped herself down into one of the seats comfortably, grinning. "Yaaaay, morbid movie time!" It turned out that Lina sat beside someone, and beside her were the multiple trays.

 Amelia sat down beside them, sweat dropping, and still pretty confused. While Val sat beside her, smiling. "I think we might need a walkie talkie to actually speak with Lina, though..."

Lina didn't acknowledge the individual she was seated beside, she was more interested in the upcoming movie and the stack of treats beside her. Humming to her, Lina grabbed a bucket of popcorn and sat it upon her lap and began to devour the diminutive multiple treats ravenously. The previews began, and any people behind Lina and the others left, rather quickly. A woman with that many snacks coming in... They honestly didn't want to stay and see what would happen. 

Lina was halfway completed with finishing off the first bucket of popcorn, but she decided to cease for a moment. She didn't want eat them all before the movie began, so she set the bucket down, taking a quick sip of her slurpee. "Lalala... damned previews... hurry up already..."

The movie slowly began with a deep voice speaking about an Organization called Umbrella, along with someone taking out tubes of green and blue vials. The man put the vials into a bag, and threw a blue one before he left. 

By this time, five people got up, men and girls, and departed, one spoke to the man beside Lina. "Hey, Gourry, you stay here and watch this for us, okay? We're going to go do some other things." The man beside Lina nodded, and the movie continued. Gourry yawned a little, putting his hands behind his head, and just watched. 

Lina immediately went rigid once the name 'Gourry' entered her ears. Gulping, Lina slowly turned her head to gaze at the man next to her, blinking repeatedly. "Gourry?!" This exclamation came out rather loud, and when she uttered it she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

People told Lina to shush, glaring at her as they turned back to watch the movie. Val, curious as to what was going on, sneaked on the ground and crawled by Amelia's legs, watching. 

Gourry emitted a very quiet yelp, shifting so he could stare at Lina. "G... gah...." 

Lina smacked her forehead and slumped into her seat, whimpering a little. She honestly never expected THIS to happen. "Nooo...." The movie progressed, as Val inched closer, still watching, curiously. If something did happen, and Lina found him, he'd be in -big- trouble. But he didn't seem to mind; he was also taking in notes what to do at theaters if he found a girl he liked. 

Gourry twitched a little, muttering to himself, and watched the seat beside him, instead of the movie. 

Lina grumbled slightly and picked up her bucket of popcorn, beginning to finish it off furiously. Hell, it was either be furious or actually let what happened recently and other thoughts get to her, and Lina absolutely refused to become morose. 

Val huffed, and crawled out of the isle they were in, down the one in back of them, and sat behind Gourry, where he could easily duck incase Lina seen. "Hurry up and do something...! Put your hand near her!" Gourry blinked a few times, looking over his shoulder. "Wha? I don't wanna get hit!" 

Lina didn't seem to acknowledge their little conversation. She was busy in her own little world. Once she finished devouring what was in the bucket, Lina began to violently tear the voluminous bucket into shreds; diminutive little shreds.

Val shook his head. "She -likes- you! She won't hit you hard, only if someone sees you; so far, no one's looking... So... just move your hand, and put it near her leg!" He giggled slightly, covering his mouth. "And once that's done, we wait to see her reaction..." Below him, he pulled out a notepad and pen from his pocket, ready to write. Gourry glared at Val, and moved over a few seats, and muttered slightly.

Lina folded her arms over her chest and crossing her legs.  _I hate this... I want everything to go back how it used to beee..._  She emitted a deep sigh and slumped into her seat, diverting her attention to the seat in front of her. "Hm."

Val put his head by Lina's, whispering. "You should go over and talk to him! He really likes you! I think you two would make a really good couple too… Whatever happened in the closet must have really got his attention about you." Gourry remained where he was, muttering, still. 

Lina snarled and jolted off her seat, twisting around. "You little squirt...! VAL! Next time, MIND your own damned business! Nothing happened in that closet!" Oh yeah, she had the strongest urge to let loose a Dragon Slave... but she attempted to contain herself, which began to prove difficult.

Val gave her an innocent look. "I really think he's remembering things... when I was in kindergarten, this kid got amnesia, and mom was trying to help him, he started to mumble and twitch like he's doing! It's signs of remembering to some people! Just go over and talk?" He asked in a very innocent voice. "I don't like it when my friend who's like a big sister to me, you, is mad over something stupid like this...! I'll even take you some place so you can calm yourself down later?" 

Lina placed a hand on her hip, glowering venomously at the child. "Calm? CALM? Oh yeah, I'm calm all right! You should see me when I'm excited! Knowing his memory span, he won't remember jack squat! Now layoff before I pull off a Dragon Slave! And I don't care if the people here start to panic just because there's gonna be a big ass crater in the place of the theater!"

Val sighed, there seemed to be -no way- hooking these two up... He knew Lina and Gourry had feelings for each other in the past, his mother had told him all kinds of stories about them when he had hatched, and he remembered. It's kind of hard to not remember your only years of life as a reborn dragon. "But, uhm...." If only his mother -WAS- here and she remembered everything, this would probably be easier. 

Lina muttered and sat back down, "End of discussion." 

However, the emerald haired boy didn't want to give up so easily, and began with the 'what if' questions. "Well... if you think like that about him, what if Xelloss comes and kills them all and you didn't even try to help his memory more, can't you even talk to him?"

 Lina twitched, "Val, will you just shut UP?! If Xelloss attempts to make another stunt like he did all those years ago I swear to Ceiphied...! Gah... screw it! Didn't you hear what I said? End of discussion means END OF DISCUSSION!" She sunk into her seat a bit lower than her previous attempt, muttering. This really wasn't her day... neither was yesterday.

Val crawled over and sat in Gourry's previous seat. He gave Lina a tight hug, and lit up his watch so he could see the time. "I should be going soon, to go pick up the comics, and then get home. Mom wants me home in time to help make dinner.... I don't even -like- cooking..." 

Lina wrinkled her nose, straightening herself and calming down. "Then go, I guess..." 

Val nodded. "Don't blow up the place, though, okay? Think about how much trouble you'd be in with Luna..." Val then slipped some pictures out of his shirt pocket. "Luna's been working out after work... so, be careful." He smirked at how he came across of getting them, and moved into the isle, he looked over at Gourry, and then walked out, heading up and through the doors, departing the theater completely once he got far enough. 

Lina yawned a little and shifted in her seat, rubbing her eye with the back of her hand. "Nyaaah..." By now, most of the Umbrella group had died in that one room, and the others are in the room with the Red Queen.

Gourry wasn't really paying attention to the movie, so he simply stared off to the side, boredly. Lina didn't seem to be interested in the movie either, mainly because she felt a bit uncomfortable around him. She fidgeted continuously, wrinkling her nose. Things were pretty quiet now, besides the movie, until the doors opened, and a few more people came in, and sat behind Lina, her wall of snacks, and the sleeping Amelia. Gourry didn't notice, sighing, and letting his shoulders slump a little. Lina finished off the rest of her snacks, frowning.  _This is just... really awkward... _

After a few moments, the person behind her leaned forward, and poked her head lightly. "Hey! I know you!" Came the voice of the annoying, desperate boy. "What are -you- doing here?"

Gourry blinked a few times, slowly looking over to see if it was whom he thought it was... 

Lina blinked also, gazing her shoulder. "Nani? ... Gah!" She turned her head back around and smacked her face, slumping. "Oh no. Why? WHY?" 

Smirking, the boy leaned over more. "Are you here alone? If you are... I can keep you some company." He chuckled, moving a hand to her shoulder. "I'm very friendly." 

Gourry twitched a little, and turned his gaze to the ground. Lina rolled her eyes, "You can go away now." He shook his head. "Not this time. Your friend called you Lina-san, so I'm guessing your name's Lina? It's absolutely gorgeous, it fits your appearance perfectly!" He grinned, ignoring the complaints from his friends.

Gourry grumbled a little, gazing at them from the corner of his eye, twitching slightly. Lina made a disgusted face, grumbling. "It looks like you'd rather have me make you leave in a painful manner, ne?" 

He rolled his eyes, smiling happily. "Oh, come on...! I'll even buy you some nice stuff after the movie! I just got fifty bucks from my relative!" 

Gourry shifted, and stood, stretching. Lina sighed boredly. "No. Go to hell." 

He whimpered, attempting to make his face cute. "Please!" 

Gourry moved over to where Lina was, and took her hand, pulling her up. "This movie's really boring...Let's go find something else to do?" He shifted his gaze from her, to his brother. "Sorry... but she's with me, you can find someone else, right?" Then Gourry just took her out of the theater.

Lina was simply struck dumbfounded, blinking repeatedly. She made no protest in being taken out of the theater; his younger brother was a pain in the ass. Though, this did surprise her. A few people walked past, but not quite a lot, as most were checking out the new stores on the third floor. 

Gourry hesitantly released her hand, stepping away from her, and looking to the side. "Er... sorry about all that happened in there, and stuff… yeah."

 Lina scratched the back of her head, "Thanks... I, uh... guess."  _Yup... awkward..._

Suddenly; a girl that seemed to be fifteen skipped over to them, in her hand was a basket full of flowers, flower crowns, necklaces... etc, etc, and she put a flower necklace and crown on Gourry, giving a few roses, and a necklace to Lina. "Happy days! Make the world better by sharing a flower!" And she skipped off, giving people flowers.

Gourry blinked a few times, scratching his head in a confused manner. 

Lina sweat dropped. "What the hell? That was the cheesiest motto I've ever heard..." She dumped the flowers she received onto Gourry boredly, "Here. You can have them." 

And people stared after the girl. "... Right..." 

Gourry blinked more, slumping a little, and began looking around for somewhere to put the flowers. 

Lina smirked, "They add a feminine touch to you." 

Gourry twitched, and grumbled, quickly giving them to some random person, including the flowers on his head and stuff. "... Which is why I don't need them." 

Lina folded her arms, "Not like you haven't been forced to look feminine before..."

Gourry blinked at her. "Wha? I haven't... at least I don't remember being forced to look feminine before..." 

Lina shrugged a little. "I would say something to see if you remember anything... but you'd probably think I'm even more insane, ne?" 

Gourry blinked a few times, shaking his head. "Actually... ever since that closet thing, I've been feeling as if I've known you before, I just dunno where… maybe if you tell me, I'll remember?" 

Lina stared at him for a moment. "How much do ya wanna know, then?"

 Gourry scratched his head, "I guess as much as you know that includes me?" 

Lina grinned brightly. This could actually be leading somewhere... "Fine. Both of us basically lived in an era before this one. You were an ex-mercenary who was once the beholder of the legendary Hikari no Ken, but you gave it away to an overworlder since it belonged to the world the dark lord Darkstar ruled over. I've put you in drag twice. You were an extraordinary swordsman, but dumb as a rock, basically."

And the 'Flower Girl' returned, glomping Gourry and then ran away quickly. "Be HAPPY!" 

Gourry just stared at her, blinking repeatedly. "I caught the ex-mercenary, Hikari no Ken, extraordinary swordsman.... but not the rest....  er..." 

Lina smacked her forehead, "Gah... doesn't any of that sound familiar? You met me thinking I was a damsel in distress in a forest while facing a gang of bandits... you thought I was a little kid, and claimed yourself to be my protector; even though I never, and still, don't need one. We were traveling together for around four years until one of our… sort of… ally turned against us, and basically killed all of us."

Gourry sighed a little, staring at the ground, thinking. "Well.... the damsel in distress, and being your protector sounds...familiar too, but... I'm alive now, so how could I have died?" 

Lina placed her hands on her hips, frowning. "That... I'm not completely sure. But I remember reading a book on reincarnation and incarnation when I was in the Madoushi Kyoukai... could be that. It's still vague to me. Anyway!" She grinned slyly, linking an arm around his. "How about this... YOU treat me to some dinner and I'll continue to explain!" 

Gourry blinked a few times, and then sighed, slumping a little. "I think I'm gonna regret doing it... but... er... alright?"

Lina tugged on his arm, "Yay! Good... now let's go!" And the sorceress simply dragged him to a random food area. Gourry whined a little as he was dragged. 

The restaurant was slightly small, but it was the only place that seemed to have the smallest amount of people. The two could talk about the past, and not have anyone know about it and think they're insane. Lina released his arm and plopped herself comfortably on a seat, placing her hands on the table. "Anyway, this seems like a good spot..."

Gourry sat down, as well, blinking. "What are we gonna talk about again?"

 Lina smacked her forehead. "Yeah... you still have jellyfish for brains..." She released an exasperated sigh, creating imaginary symbols on the table with the tip of her index finger. "Anyway, to refresh your memory. You were an ex-mercenary, used to be the beholder of the Hikari no ken, but soon found another sword called the Blast Sword that worked just as well. You've helped me and everyone else that traveled with us in the bad situations we always seemed to end up in." 

Gourry rubbed his chin a little, looking to the side and thinking. "Well... actually... for a while now I've been having this dream, with someone that looked like you." He stopped, shrugging. "But it's just a dream, and in it, we were always together, and a couple of times, there'd be a few other people, but not all the time. Does that mean anything, or is it just a dream?"

Lina smiled childishly, "Nope! That stuff really happened!" She placed her chin on her palm, "You always had a real big appetite, and we used to fight over food; a lot... you occasionally attempted to steal some of mine, too." She wrinkled her nose at the memory, but the smile still remained. "Yuuup... those were the good ole' times... anyway, the few other people were probably Amelia, Zelgadis… Sylphiel on some occasions... Filia, and... maybe Xelloss..." 

Gourry blinked at her, tilting his head to the side, curiously. "Well... there's a few other things I remember, I think so, anyway." He shrugged again.

However, a woman walked over to a few people, and took their order, when she caught the two teens in their booth. "Lina...?" She mumbled to herself, raising an eyebrow at the man with her, and then she narrowed her eyes. The woman with short amethyst colored hair walked over to a waitress who was heading over to them. "I'll take them, can you do those two?" She nodded over her shoulder to the couple she was recently at. "Uhm, sure...." 

Lina didn't notice her sister's presence. She yawned a little, "Well, that's good. Maybe I could tell you one of the real bad guys we faces before... maybe that'd refresh your memory some more." 

Gourry blinked more, "Wha? Bad guys?" He didn't seem to recall any bad guys. "You mean we fought people or something? Like in those movies?"

Luna Inverse approached her sister and her companion, glowering down at her. "Excuse me. May I take your orders?" Lina nodded, "Yeah, basi--..." She diverted her attention towards the waitress, and immediately regretted it. "Yeah, I'll--LUNA?!" She practically yelled out, clinging to her chair.  _CRAP..._  

Gourry looked from Lina, to the waitress, and then back again. He just sat there, blinking and watching, tapping the table with his finger boredly. Luna gave Gourry a rather mean glower, grabbing Lina's arm. "I'll return your... girlfriend in a moment. We've got to speak." Luna then dragged Lina away, and into the women's bathroom. "WHO is THAT?" She hissed, glaring at her younger sibling. 

Lina flinched and instinctively inched back towards the wall, gulping. "H-he's just a friend from school... I swear!"

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "And you two are out at a restaurant?! I don't know -any male- friend that would take their -girl- friend to a restaurant! Are you dating without my permission?! You could have -brought him home and showed him to me- first! And then I'd give him a check, and then make sure he wouldn't hurt you, and THEN say yes or no!" Luna then got rather large eyes, as she sniffled. "You're so hard to deal with after mom and dad died... you never listen to me, or even behave! Where have I gone wrong in raising you?!" She wailed, leaning against the sink, dramatically. "I thought I did a good job...!" 

Lina released a mushroom sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Luna... we're not even dating...! I'm not interested in that kind of stuff and you know it! And, I HAVE to listen to you or you'd give me on of your 'lovely' punishments..." _Why me... _

Luna wasn't listening. "Have you planned to elope?! That's it, isn't it! You're going to leave me with some jerk that'll hurt you in the future! I'm going to lose my baby sister now! Oh, someone! Give me pity!" She wailed, falling to her knees. "I just... wanted my baby sister to be a good girl...!!" 

Lina's eyes reduced themselves to diminutive ruby dots. ".... Right. Luna… can I go now?" 

Luna jolted up, and clung to Lina. "NO! I want you to go out the back way and leave that man now! I'll call the cops! I think he's got a gun! He'll hurt you!" She sobbed, petting Lina's head. Oh yes.... Luna really had bad mood swings.

Lina shook her head, "Luna... he's as dumb as a rock. He wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, unless he had a reason to. Now, I really need to goooo! C'mon! You'll be a LOT better when your time of the month's done!" 

She ceased wailing completely, and raised an eyebrow at Lina. "... You like dumb men?" 

Lina stared at her for a moment, "Who said I was interested in him in THAT way?!" _They're all on to me…_

"Well... you were gazing at him pretty intimately from where I was standing." She murmured. "I thought you'd go for the smartest, most handsome boy at the school... Along with the strongest!" 

Lina smacked her forehead, "Right. You're delusional. Too many romance movies you've been watching, that you have. And if you're gonna be our waitress, you BETTER not put anything in his food or drink! Okay, I'm done with this discussion... can I go?" 

Luna suddenly got a devious smirk, nodding. "Of course, dear... You go be a good girl... do you know what you two want?"

Lina shrugged, "I'll have spaghetti with meatballs... and a root beer. I have no idea what he wants..." Luna winked. "We'll pull a Lady and the Tramp thing, then. A huge ass platter of spaghetti with two root beers." She nodded, and quickly left the bathroom. 

Lina yelped and followed after her, waving her arms around frantically. "W-wait, no! LUNA! DON'T DO THAT!" 

Luna popped up behind Lina, and shoved her back to Gourry. "SIT! Your food will be done soon!" And she ran into the kitchen. 

Lina whined softly, plopping her elbows onto the table as she buried her face into her hands. "I can't believe I'm related to her..."

Gourry had been messing with some random napkins while she was gone, and now began to make a pile, yawning. "Are we gonna eat now?" 

Lina nodded, muttering a little. "Yeah... my sister's getting some spaghetti..." After a few moments, a woman comes out with a large plate of spaghetti, and set it on the table of this other couple, and went back in the kitchen. Another waitress was shoved out and walked over to Lina and Gourry, setting down two plates of spaghetti, and two root beers. "Here you go." She squeaked, and went back to get another order. 

Gourry rubbed an eye, gazing down at the food, and then... twitched, going pretty still. "... Noodles..." 

Lina had a satisfied grin on her face, "Yay! Luna didn't do that crazy idea..." She diverted her gaze from the spaghetti to him, blinking repeatedly. "Yeah... noodles. They look good. They taste good. So eat!"

Gourry twitched more, staring at her for a moment, before glaring at the noodles, muttering, and began to growl a little. 

Lina quirked a brow, grasping a fork, "What's with you?" 

Suddenly, the man that had the combined plate of spaghetti with his girlfriend collapsed, his face falling into the food. The girl screamed. "AHHH! SOMEONE! HELP! MY BOYFRIEND JUST COLLAPSED!" A few people run and call 911... 

Gourry grumbled, taking a fork, and began to stab the noodles. "I hate noodles..." 

Lina sweat dropped, briefly eyeing the couple in distress. _Wow... seems like something Luna woul--... I'm never coming here again._  Lina curled a portion of sauce-saturated noodles around her fork, "Why? They're reaaaally good... one of my favorites!" Gourry twitched. "That's why I hate them..."

 Lina blinked. "Because they're good?"

Paramedics came in, took the man, arrested the girl that served them for poisoning, and took the boy to the hospital. Luna was in the corner, and growled. "Damn...! She mixed them up...."

Gourry shook his head. "No. Because you like them, you kept muttering them in your sleep..." He grumbled, and then blinked. "... Wha?" 

Lina stared at him blankly for a brief moment, setting the fork down. "Yeah... I did... actually. ... You're REMEMBERING! Whoo, there's hope for you after all!"

 Luna stomped around in the corner, and glowered at the two. "Must kill before he ruins my baby sister...."

Gourry blinked a few times, shrugging, and moving the plate away from him. "I don't like them 'cause you kept muttering them in your sleep... Thought you liked them more than you liked me." He glared at the noodles, muttering. "Can we go somewhere else and get something different to eat?" 

Lina smirked playfully. "Can I first eat this and eat yours too?" 

Gourry placed his forehead on the table, and put his hands on his ears. "Fine... evil noodles..." 

Lina laughed a little and got off her seat, straightening her skirt. "I was joking! It'd be best if we did leave... my sister might actually poison you."

Gourry moved out of the seat, slumping still. "Good... and why would she?" 

Lina positioned her arms behind her head, beginning to depart from the restaurant. "She thinks we're dating." 

Gourry followed her, blinking. "She does?" Luna threw a loaf of hard bread at Gourry's head. 

Lina sweat dropped a little, nodding. "Yeah. She thinks your gonna hurt me." 

Gourry was hit in the head. "Ow..." 

Lina eyed him lazily. "See what I mean?" 

Gourry blinked, rubbing his head. "I guess..."

Lina gazed around, scrunching her nose up. "Got any suggestions on where to go?" 

Gourry shook his head, yawning and putting his hands in his pockets boredly. "Hn. Nope." 

Lina removed her arms away from her cranium, allowing them to drop at her sides. "How about some ice-cream?" 

Gourry blinked, and nodded. "Yeah... ice-cream doesn't have noodles." 

Lina prodded him, "Noodles aren't THAT bad...!" 

Gourry snorted, looking to the side. "Every night you kept muttering them... blah, they're evil damned things." Lina smiled a little, folding her arms. "Did they make you THAT jealous?" 

Gourry hesitated, before nodding slightly. "Yeah.... anyway, let's get the ice cream?" 

Lina sauntered towards a random ice-cream store, humming to herself slightly.

Gourry followed, muttering about how evil noodles are. Lina ceased her walking a couple feet from the cash register, gazing towards the menu. "Let's see..." The man behind the register looked bored, yawning. The menu had... 'Chocolate, peppermint, strawberry, vanilla, etc, etc, and a very odd one... Noodle flavor vanilla ice cream.' Gourry seen the sign, and began to twitch. 

Lina cocked her head to the side. "Noodle flavor? Wow... that's new..." 

Gourry grumbled. "They're already taking over..." The man nodded. "Yeah. Do you want to try it?" Lina placed a hand on her hip, using her free hand to tap a finger against her chin. "Free sample?"

He nodded once again. "No one's tried it, so maybe if I start doing free samples, it'll get out faster." 

Lina nodded mirthfully, stepping closer, "All right then!" Gourry stayed in the back, glaring at the ice cream, everything was against him. The man scooped some of the odd tan colored ice cream, and gave her the cone. 

Lina grasped it carefully, turning sideways to divert her optics towards Gourry, "C'mon! You should at least try it!" 

Gourry shook his head, crossing his arms. "No." 

Lina sauntered over to him, giving him the adorable, sparkly and wobbly eyes of doom. "Onegai? Onegai, onegai, onegai!" 

Gourry closed his eyes. "Nope. Never..." The man watched, rather amused at the two teens. 

Lina lifted her arms, nearing the cone to his face. "Onegaaaaii? For me?"

Gourry whined slightly. "But it's noodle flavored…" 

Lina placed a hand on his arm, "Awe, c'mon! Just this once." 

Gourry twitched, and took the cone. ".... Gah... fine..." 

Lina grinned proudly. "Victory!" 

The man leaned in, he wanted to know what it tasted like, but didn't dare try some himself. Gourry glared at her, twitching. "But if I die... I'll never forgive you, Lina." 

Lina stared at him, frowning. "Eer... right..." 

Gourry took a deep breath, and.... took a taste. The man was now leaning against the freezers of the ice cream, watching and waiting. 

Lina examined his face for any sudden reaction. "Well?" 

Gourry began to twitch, closing his eyes, and shoving the cone back to her... his expression that really... seems like he just ate something that was really... nasty.

The man frowned. "I suppose that means it isn't good?" 

Lina sweat dropped, holding the cone away from her. "That bad, huh?" 

"Or maybe he just thinks it is?" He muttered aloud, slumping. "Try it? It's free and all...." 

Gourry began to gag, stepping back with his hand over his mouth. Lina shook her head quickly and rapidly scampered over to a trashcan, dumping the cone inside. "Nooo, thank you!" 

The man nodded, watching Gourry. "I wonder if I'd be sued if something happened to him because he tried the ice-cream... Ah... hold on." He grabbed the container of noodle-flavored ice cream, and ran to the back room with it. 

Gourry twitched, sitting down somewhere, his hand still over his mouth, grumbling.

Lina hesitantly walked back over to him, patting his shoulder, "Take it like a man!" 

Gourry glared at her, muttering. "I don't see you trying this damned crap..." 

The man came back, looking nervous, and crossed out the noodle flavored. "Would you two like anything else?" 

Lina smiled innocently, "That's why -I- made you try it first... whoo, and glad I'm not you!" She walked back towards the cash register, placing her arms on the desk. "I'll have strawberry ice-cream on a cone."

Gourry simply glared at her from where he sat. The man took a cone, and scooped some strawberry ice cream on it. "Here you go." 

Lina grabbed the cone, grinning. "Sankyuuu! How much would that be?" He gazed over at Gourry, and stepped to the side. "Ah... after what happened to your friend... I think I'd just give it to you free!" 

Lina blinked, "Wow... I like this place! Heh, stuff like this should happen more often... see ya!" She twisted around and sauntered back over to Gourry, licking her ice cream. "Sucks to be you." 

Gourry snorted, and glared to the side, ignoring her, basically. "Hn..."

Lina plopped herself beside him, prodding his arm. "You can't stay mad at me for long!" Gourry continued to glare to the side, away from her, muttering. 

Lina shrugged a little and got off the seat, walking a few feet away from him and scanning the area boredly, still licking her ice cream. Gourry shifted his gaze over to her, slowly, just looking her up and down. 

Lina continued licking her ice cream boredly, "What to do next--gak!" She squeaked a little, some melted ice cream dripping onto her shoes. Huffing a little, she carefully bent down, wiping it off her shoe carefully. "Stupid... ice cream..." Gourry blinked a few times, and... watched, shifting a little in his seat. 

Lina stood back up and sigh a little, gazing off ahead, still licking her icecream. "Hm…"

Gourry twitched a little, looking to the side. "Are we... gonna go anywhere else?" 

Lina gazed over her shoulder, biting into the cone lightly. "No clue... I don't have anything else to do anyway." 

Gourry gazed over at her, and then to the side. "I thought you didn't like dresses or skirts?" 

Lina turned around completely, nibbling on the cone for a moment before swallowing a portion. "So… you are remembering! Well, I don't... not much anyway... but we're forced to wear them for school, obviously..." 

Gourry nodded, looking around, a little nervous. "Yeah... but it's after school, meaning you could have gone home and got into different clothing... 'Cause those skirts are really kind of short!" He seemed to be getting rather nervous now, especially at what he had just seen.

Lina twitched faintly, pulling the cone away from her lips. "... Since when did you pay attention to that kind of stuff?" 

Gourry shifted a little bit, muttering. "Well... they are short..."

 Lina Inverse blinked a little and finished off her cone, and gliding her tongue against her lips to get rid of any stray specks of icecream. "Not my fault. I didn't make them, if I had the choice, I'd gladly wear my old attire." 

Gourry muttered slightly, shifting in his seat. Lina sweat dropped. 

"What's with you?" 

Gourry shakes his head, coughing. "Nothing! Anyway… where do you wanna go next?" Lina shrugged, scratching her cheek. "Uhm... not sure, really. What about you?"

Gourry shrugged, as well, "Don't matter to me." 

Lina stepped closer to him, scanning the area. "Wonder what kind of stores are there besides those stupid Victoria's Secret and kiddie stores..." 

Gourry yawned, standing up, hands in his pockets again. "I just hope you don't have me try something else..."

 Lina had a sly smirk appear on her face, ".... Can I make you try some nice, silk lingerie?" 

Gourry twitched. "No. I'm a guy, just 'cause you did it to me before, doesn't mean I'm gonna let you dress me up this life. But YOU can try them on!" 

Lina stared at him blankly for a few moments, her cheeks quickly found themselves engulfed in a crimson hue. "Naaaaani?! Gourry, I'm only fifteen! As if I'd ever do that for YOU!" Gourry slumped. "Damn…" Lina folded her arms, huffing furiously and gazing off to the side. "Sukebe..." 

Gourry just slumped, muttering, "No fun, then..." 

Lina twitched, "Waaaah! You ARE a pervert! MY body isn't used for that kind of thing!" 

Gourry blinked. "Wha? I never said it was." 

Lina snorted. "Why would have you asked me to wear it, eh?" Gourry blinked again. "Wear what?"

Lina growled a little, and simply slammed her fist onto his cranium. "Why you...!" 

Gourry yelped, grabbing his head. "Ow..." 

Lina huffed a little and turned around, wrinkling her nose. "Bah..." 

Gourry grumbled, rubbing his head. "Well...you're the one that kissed me..." 

Lina began twitching insanely. "I s-said I was sorry!"

 Gourry poked her shoulder, muttering. 

Lina frowned, gazing over her shoulder. "... What?" Gourry shrugged. 

The icecream shop owner cleared his throat. "I see you two have some relationship going on, but uhm... before some other people hear you talking about it, I think it's best if you go to a nice dark place where no people are?"

Lina stared at the owner blankly, her orbs rather wide. "W-what?! Wait, wait... what is it with people assuming these days?!" 

"It doesn't take much when he said you kissed him..." Gourry blinked, and took a step back. 

Lina growled a little and stomped over to the shop owner, "He's delusional. He dreamed it. Shut up if you value your life." 

The owner sighed, shaking his head. "And here I thought you were a good girl who didn't threaten elders... Perhaps I should have made you pay..."

Lina snorted, "People like you who don't mind their own business tempt me." 

"I merely tried to help, as a group of cheerleaders and jocks are heading over right now." He raised a hand and pointed as a 'flock' of said people was coming. 

Lina quirked a brow, "Eh?" She gazed over her shoulder, frowning in distaste. "Damn..." 

He went back and pulled out the noodle container, dumping some in each container of ice cream. "I dislike people like them." In the crowd of cheerleaders was none other than Sylphiel, who was staring at Gourry, as they got close enough to see who was in the store.

Lina slumped down onto her knees, banging her head against the desk. "Lovely..."

The entire squads came in, ignoring Lina and Gourry, except for Sylphiel who immediately stepped in front of Gourry and giggled nervously. The cheerleaders and jocks all ordered vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. However, instead of vanilla, the man put the noodle flavored ice cream. 

Lina forced herself up and held her head with her hand, "Right... right, I give up... maybe I should go..." 

Gourry took a step back, blinking. The preps ate their ice creams, and seemed to choke on the noodle flavor. 

Sylphiel stepped closer to Gourry, smiling up at him, blushing. "Hi... I'm Sylphiel...." 

Lina snickered at the preps, using this as a distraction in attempt to currently ignore the whole situation between Sylphiel and Gourry.

Gourry stepped back again, blinking. "Er… hey?" 

The preps fell down, spitting out the ice cream. "This is NASTY!" 

"My uniform!" 

"I will never play football again!"

 Lina watched them, amused. "Wow, old geezer... I must say… I'm thoroughly impressed!" 

"You should have seen what happened when I had used the mustard flavor ice cream." He chuckled, watching as the preps all ran out, leaving Sylphiel to lean against Gourry. 

Lina made a disgusted face, "Mustard's okay... but in icecream? Belch..." She wrinkled her nose in distaste and quickly shook her head, diverting her gaze towards the other two, with a small frown appearing on her face. "Hm..."

Gourry moved back a few steps, blinking. "Er..." Sylphiel pouted slightly, and blushed, staring at her feet in all 'innocence'. The man placed his chin on his hand, with his elbow on the counter, gazing from Lina, to Gourry, to Sylphiel, and back again. 

Lina simply examined the two, like a curious little child. _Wow, still the same… _

Gourry shrugged a bit, and blinked, walking over to Lina, since he didn't know who she was, she kind of scared him. "Where now?" 

Sylphiel stared at Lina and Gourry, and her eyes got big, and watery. She remained like that, watching. The man simply watched, opening a can of soda, and took a gulp.

Lina quirked a brow, placing a hand on her hip, "You still wanna come with me?" 

Gourry nodded, blinking. "Yeah.... is there a reason I shouldn't?" 

Lina stared at him, shaking her head. "Never mind." Sylphiel sniffled, and simply followed her friends. Gourry yawned, scratching his head, and just waited for her to decide on where to go.

 Lina thought for a moment, taking a step forward. "Ahh... I wanna go to the park." 

The man blinked at Lina. "You want to go to the park at this time? I suppose you could take a cab and get there as the sun is setting, if you don't get caught in traffic." Then he walked to the side. "Erhm, excuse me for not minding my own business. I thought it was just a tad weird to go so late."

Gourry blinked, but shrugged. 

"Alright." Lina gazed to the man, "I didn't think it was that late... but at least I don't think it'd be as crowded as the earlier times." She nudged Gourry lightly, "Anyway, ready?" 

The man nodded, looking at his watch. "It's almost six. By the time you get a cab, which will take about ten minutes... or so, and then get to the park, it should be about six thirty, and at six twenty seven is when the sunset begins."

Gourry nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

 Lina sweat dropped. "Whoa... you must examine things accurately, ne? Anyway, thanks mister!" She grabbed Gourry's arm and simply dragged him towards the exit. He waved a hand, and went back to doing whatever he was doing. 

By the time the two got out of the mall, the traffic had left, but there was -no- sign of a taxi anywhere. 

Gourry blinked, looking around. "Well... what now?" 

Lina pouted, "Damn... that means we have to walk... or... or..." She blinked, staring at head for a moment. She gazed up at him hesitantly, and then scanned the area, a devious smirk appearing. "Ehehe..."

Gourry blinked down at her, and took a step away. "For some reason... something's telling me I don't like that smirk..." 

Lina snatched his arm and quickly dragged him behind the building. "Just trust me on this one!" 

Gourry whined a little. "That coming from you makes me really think I won't like what you're gonna do..." 

Lina took a deep breath and stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Hold on tight!" 

Gourry wrapped his arms around her, tightly, for some reason, he felt that this had happened before... 

Lina hesitated a little and muttered, gazing up at the sky. "Ready? Good!" And she didn't even wait until he answered, oh well... "Levitation!" Up, up and away!

Gourry yelped, and clung to her tighter. "What... the hell?!" 

Lina chuckled in amusement, winking at him. She waited until they were exceedingly high off the ground, mostly in fear of being spotted in the sky lucidly. "Woops... and I forgot to mention, I was the famous sorcery genius! Or were you able to figure that out on your own?" Smirking, she shifted their position so he would be under her, and began flying off rapidly. 

Gourry just closed his eyes, muttering, and continued clinging to her tightly. "Seem like a witch to me...." 

Lina hissed a little, loosening her grip on him. "I can always DROP you." Gourry yelped again. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" 

Lina huffed. She wasn't going to allow him to get away with that insult easily. Of course, Lina was always the revenge type. Still with her loosened grip on him, the sorceress began doing all these kinds of flips and rolls in the air.

Gourry yelped again, and continued to cling to her, his grip around her waist tightening. "Stop! I said sorry!" 

Lina snickered a little, returning to the previous position. "Revenge is the sweetest joy!" 

Gourry twitched, whining. "I think I'm gonna throw up..." 

Lina frowned, "Ahh... do it when we land!" She paused briefly, "Which will be... right about... NOW!" And she abruptly began descending downward quickly. Gourry yelped, and clung tighter. 

Lina stopped once she was at least three feet above the ground, near a throng of trees. She removed her arms away from him, blinking. "You can let go of me now." Gourry shifted a little, opening an eye and looking down at the ground. He released her, and landed... but fell on his ass once his feet touched the ground. Gourry twitched, and glared up at her, grumbling. 

Lina smirked at him and hovered away from him, landing on her feet. She brushed herself off a bit and sauntered into the clearing, yawning. Gourry got up, dusting himself off and slowly followed, muttering.

Lina plopped herself onto a random swing, grasping the chains, and swinging her feet a little, "So, enjoy the ride?" 

Gourry grumbled, and just sat on the ground slumping. "No, but I'm glad I didn't eat anything..." 

Lina began swinging back and forth, making sure her thighs were pressed together firmly so nothing could be seen. "That's a miracle. Did being reborn erase your endless appetite or what?"

Gourry shrugged. "I dunno... but… blah..." He fell back against the ground, muttering. "This day's been confusing..." 

Lina continued swinging, looking ahead. "Anything else you want me to explain?"

Gourry shook his head, sighing. "Nah."

Lina sighed herself, ceasing her swinging. She scooted off the swing, staring at the ground ahead of her. "Y'know... I want my protector back." 

Gourry sat up, blinking at her. "Wha?" Lina shook her head, "Gah... never mind." 

Gourry stood up, rubbing his eye, and stared off boredly. "Well... maybe I'm not your protector? Just another guy named Gourry Gabriev who had weird dreams?" 

Lina frowned, folding her arms. "So... you don't wanna be my protector, then?" 

Gourry sighed. "I dunno, I'm just really confused." Lina eyed him, "Do you even -want- to remember?" 

Gourry hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah. I don't like feeling that I do not know something I should, it kind of makes me feel... alone. I don't like it."

Lina gazed to the side, away from him. "Oh..." 

Gourry nodded again, and yawned. Lina slumped a little, wrinkling her nose. "Bah..." 

Well, just staying there and waiting had gotten the time to six twenty seven, and, as the man at the ice cream place had said... the sun began to set. The sky turned different shades of orange, and purple, along with a few light pink shades.

Gourry put his hands in his pockets, gazing over to the sunset, yawning a little. Lina frowned a bit, her expression softening. "Well, this is certainly familiar..." She murmured to herself, her stare locked onto the sunset. 

Gourry nodded a little, watching it, and shifted his weight a little, "It is familiar, actually..." He sighed, shifting his gaze over to her for a moment, before looking back at the sunset. "Hn..." Lina smiled faintly, closing an eye. "Mmhm... we were watching a sunset just like this one before the incident with Xelloss.."

Gourry blinked a few times, going quiet. After a little bit, he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "You didn't seem very happy at the time, either..."

 Lina re-opened her eye, "Well, I did feel a bit--... chotto matte!" She turned her head towards him, blinking repeatedly. "You remember?" Gourry smiled a little, closing his eyes, and lowering his head a little. "Guess you're not really insane, then... but, go on, you did feel a bit?" 

Lina hesitated, cocking her head to the side. "A bit uncomfortable..." She did seem pretty puzzled now. Gourry opened his eyes, staring at the sunset. "Why? Did you have a feeling something bad was going to happen?"

Lina nodded slowly, "Uh-huh... and it did, didn't it?" She said this rather bitterly, glowering at the sunset. "Bloop. We all went up against Xelloss. And we all died." 

Gourry stepped over, closer to her, and took her wrist, pulling her against him, wrapping his arms around her. "Yeah... but at least we're alive again?"

 Lina blinked up at him, her eyes widening somewhat. "I... guess... ne, you remember?"

 Gourry hesitated, but nodded. "Kind of.... I only remember you, how we met, what we did.... just basically things about you, and what we did together... nothing else."

Lina smiled brightly, immediately swinging her arms around his neck. "And here I thought you weren't gonna remember jack squat!" Gourry rubbed his cheek against hers a little. "Maybe you shouldn't doubt me so much, then?" 

Lina closed an eye, "Heh. Maybe. Mm... I'll think about it." 

Gourry hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek, "What's gonna happen now?"

 Lina wrinkled her nose, "I'm not completely sure about that... I'm still waiting for Zel and Amelia to regain their memory... and everyone else who's around here... and I'm waiting for Xelloss to pop up again..." She grumbled a little.

Gourry blinked, pulling back a little. "Wait... that's the guy that killed us, right? He's still around?" 

Lina snorted lightly, "Of course he's still around! He's a mazoku, after all. He came to me last night." 

Gourry slumped a little, hugging her again. "Which means something bad is gonna happen again?" 

Lina shrugged, "If not, I'll make it happen. I'm NOT letting what he did to us go by so easily, y'know." 

Gourry sighed. "Maybe he won't do anything?"

Lina grumbled, "Like I said, if he won't start something, I'll start it myself. He killed us! What, you think we should just live our lives normally knowing that he could do it again? He killed us for a reason, y'know... and I have a good feeling that reason's still there." 

Gourry gazed to the side, slumping a little. "Well...maybe he thinks we don't have our memories?" 

Lina kissed his cheek lightly, "It's not worth worrying about it now anyway..." 

Gourry nodded. "Yeah..." He shifted his weight a little, nervously. "Is your sister really trying to kill me?" 

Lina sweat dropped a little. "Either that or her time of the month's getting to her."

Gourry blinked. "Like it did when you had yours?" 

Lina glowered at him. "Urusai." 

Gourry blinked again, and yawned. "There's still things I can't remember..." 

Lina sighed softly, pressing her forehead against his chest. "You'll remember sooner or later. Lucky you, you got your memories back normally." 

Gourry blinked down at her. "How'd you get yours?" Lina closed her eyes. "Through a mirror." 

Gourry rubbed her back a little, gazing to the side. "A mirror?" 

Lina nodded slowly. "Yup. Right this morning after I finally was beginning to get over my paranoid mood."

Gourry yawned. "That's why you kissed me?" 

Lina opened her eyes completely, blushing faintly. "Y-yeah... I guess..." 

Gourry kissed her cheek repeatedly. "It's fun, making you blush." 

Lina jerked her head away from his chest, "Oh yeah, I'm so delighted that you're amused..." G

ourry kept a hand on her back, while the other went to her waist. "Though...it's weird seeing you in a skirt." 

Lina fidgeted a little. "How come? It's the traditional school uniform, after all..."

Gourry blinked. "Well... a skirt this short, anyway... 'Cause when you bend over...." He coughed a little, and hugged her tightly. "I hope all of my memories come back soon..."

Lina twitched faintly, stepping on his foot. "When I bend over--... so THAT'S what was up with you in the mall earlier! WHY were you even looking?!" 

Gourry yelped. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to! I was just looking around, and then you bent over! But I quickly looked awayyyy!" 

Lina huffed a little, "Yeah... sure, that's what they ALL say..." 

Gourry grumbled a little, muttering. "I've seen more than that with you anyway...." Lina reddened completely, lowering her gaze to his chest. "Ehe… hehe..." 

Gourry continued to grumble. "After making me try that stuff, I had every reason to look, anyway..."

Lina smiled up at him innocently, "You're still mad about thaaaat?"

Gourry nodded. "It was nasty..." 

Lina smirked, placing her fingers lightly against his lips. "Your expression was hilarious, though..." Gourry bit her fingers lightly, grumbling. 

Lina pulled her fingers away, flicking his nose. "Heh, I'm glad you remember me though..." 

Gourry kissed her lips for a moment, nodding. "Yeah... but I don't think it's gonna be very safe to be around you when your sister could be near..."

Lina grinned, returning the kiss. "Heh, I'll handle her... or at least try to, anyway." 

Gourry blinked. "Is she just like the sister you had before?" Lina nodded slowly, "Yeah..." 

Gourry shrugged slightly, and Lina kissed his lips a couple of times. "It's getting late, I have to get home before Luna gets suspicious…" 

Gourry pouted slightly, but returned the kisses, and hugged her. She returned the hug, and both hesitantly released each other. "We'll see each other tomorrow…" Lina mumbled, and Gourry nodded. 

For a moment, the two stood there, before she left. Gourry placed his hands in his pockets, and gazed over at the darkness that was covering the slight red of the sky. "I have… a bad feeling…" He muttered to himself, and began to walk home silently.

~ A/N: Just so you all know, Lina and Gourry got together after TRY, thus the reason for Gourry saying what he did, and all the cute little kisses the two did at the end. Chapter three –should- be done anytime now. As a quick note to Lina Gabriev…

Like I said, Gourry and Lina were together after TRY. Zelgadis and Amelia also got together. Filia and Sylphiel had met a little bit after (In this fanfic) TRY. Then a year later, was when Xelloss attacked. Hope I made it clear~! ^^ Glad you liked this chapter! ~


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three.

Students had already arrived by the time Amelia's limo pulled up. The driver, once more, went around and helped Amelia out. It was Friday, a day after the mall incident. Amelia had gotten a letter from her teachers, letting her know that her last class had been changed to Family Care. Amelia stepped out of the car, not even saying "You didn't have to do that" to the drive like she normally did. She seemed a bit irked by something as she looked around for Lina. 

Lina was merely standing around casually, looking rather sleepy. She rubbed her eyes with a clenched fist, her lips parting to allow a diminutive yawn to escape. It took her awhile to notice Amelia's arrival, and once she did, Lina blinked a few times and sauntered over towards her lazily, emitting another yawn. "Oi Amelia."

The limo left, and a few people passed them, they had five minutes before the bell rang.

Amelia wasn't quite as cheerfully as she usually was, "Lina-san! How could you? Abandoning me in a movie theater like that!? If you were going to leave you could have woken me up and said so!" 

Lina released a nervous chuckle, scratching her cheek. "Woops...! Oh yeah, that's right... you were there..." Lina wrinkled her nose, sweat dropping a little, "Something... unexpected came up."

What the two didn't see was the boy watching them, mainly Lina, with sunglasses and a hood over his head.

Amelia pouted, "Well you still could have woken me up and told me..." She closed her eyes and sighed loudly, "Well, let's get to class."

Lina nodded quickly, thankful that Amelia didn't ask any further questions. She positioned her arms behind her head, fingers intertwined with her briefcase's handle. "Yeah, yeah."

The bell rang, and the two hurried off to their class. The day passed rather quickly; as the students, and teachers all wanted to get to the weekend. However, as the two girls entered their last class, Family Care, the room was half full, and, Zelgadis and Gourry were there. "Please, take a seat." The teacher, a woman, had said, smiling happily.

Zelgadis was nervous and fidgeting a bit, why was he moved to this class?  He never asked for it...the classes he had were fine.

Amelia sat down in an empty seat. Her happy mood had returned by now… though she hadn't signed up for this class she knew it would be very usefully in the future… the very, very distant future that is!

Gourry yawned, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, he was bored, and this class seemed boring, like the rest of his classes.

Lina slumped a little. _Why am I in this class again? Bah..._  She grumbled and dragged herself to an empty seat behind Gourry, resting her head on the desk.  _I'll sleep through this one too..._

The teacher tapped Lina lightly. "We are doing a project, please stay awake." She whapped Gourry's head, "And, sir... don't lean back. We're not covered for head damage." She muttered, and went to the front of the class, where a big box was placed. "Today, and as a weekend project, I have asked that your other teachers don't give you other assignments." Which the teachers agreed, and didn't give them any, "You will all be assigned to a partner." She paused.

Zelgadis blinked. Well, no assignments were good, but what kind of project would the teachers do that for?  He shifted uncomfortable again, eyeing the box and listening.

Amelia blinked. A project the first week of school? Well that was certainly Unjust... but she did go out of her way to make sure they had no other work... so it wasn't completely Unjust in that case. Since the class was Family Care she could easily guess what kind of project they had.

Gourry slumped a little, and grumbled.

Lina twitched faintly and sat up properly, folding her arms across her chest.  _We never had to go through any of this educational crap in our past lives... who invented this school crap?! WHO?!_  Lina yawned, and reluctantly listened to the 'wise one's' words boredly.

The teacher smiled. "I am assigning you partners, so you two can take care of... a child." By now, the rest of the class yelped, and squeaked, staring down at the teacher. "What?!"

Zelgadis paled slightly and made a noise, staring at the teacher.

Amelia was one of the people that squeaked. _It'll be a good learning experience. _She tried to tell herself. She hoped that she wouldn't end up with a partner that would make her do all the work.

Gourry didn't seem to care; simply yawning.

Lina sunk into her seat, tugging on her hair.  _Nooo... damn it! Gah..._  She began having a rather insane twitching fit. Lina didn't like the idea; she didn't like it at all. But school always seemed to be infested projects that'd she'd always end up disliking tremendously, ne? "Maybe I'll get lucky and won't be stuck with an idiotic pervert..." She grumbled to herself, allowing her arms to fall limply at her sides.

The teacher lifted up a piece of paper. "I already gave you all partners." She then began to read the names. "Amelia Seyruun and Zelgadis Graywords." She said a few more names, "Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev." She continued until everyone was partnered up.

Zelgadis Graywords paled further, why was he with her again!?  He glanced to her, at least he knew her a bit... it could be worse... or maybe not. 

Amelia blinked, glancing at Zel. That guy she was partnered with in Chemistry? Well that didn't seem so bad. He didn't seem like someone who would make her do all the work...

Gourry leaned back in his chair again, tilting his head back to look at Lina, and blinked.

Lina blinked also, straightening herself.  _Okay... maybe this might not be so bad…_  She smirked deviously and grasped a chunk of his hair, leaning closer. "Aha. You're stuck with me. I bet you're SO happy now, aren'tcha?"

The teacher shook her head at Lina and Gourry, and continued on, taking out an egg that had it's eyes closed, and the mouth a line. It also wore a diaper. "These are your children. You will spend the entire weekend with your partner, and you cannot leave each other's home. You can pick which home you wish to stay at, but you must be with that person all the time, and you must both take care of the baby." (Think Batman Returns, with the eggs.)

Zelgadis stared at the teacher, wide eyed.  Was she -mad-?!  After this was over, he was going to plead with all his life to Rezo to go back to home schooling.  

Amelia tilted her head slightly to look at the eggs from a different angle. Those eggs were certainly... unique. She gave the teacher a wary glance, a teacher telling boy-girl students to stay at each other's houses? This teacher was certainly very weird.

Gourry blinked again, and shrugged a little, ignoring what the teacher had said. "I dunno... should I be?"

Lina huffed and yanked on his hair violently before releasing it, folding her arms. "Be prepared to get your little bottom burned off after this..."

The teacher then explained what the eggs do, etc, etc. "Now... for the next thirty minutes of class, talk to your partner about where you two will stay."

Zelgadis glanced to Amelia again, slowly getting up.  He hoped if he had to stay at her house it wasn't... girly... or anything... A slight shudder went through him, eyes closing for a second.  He opened them again and went over to where she was sitting.  

Amelia blinked at Zel when he shuddered, was he sick or something? "Hello again Zelgadis-san!" She was trying to be polite but she idly wondered what her Daddy would think of all this...

Gourry whined a little, and moved the chair back on all four legs, turning it around so he would face her. "I'm not gonna go to your house... your sister might kill me..."

Lina nodded in agreement, placing her arms on the desk, and then plopped her cranium on them. "Yep... so, your place then. ... Just, keep your brother away from me."

The teacher sat on her desk while rocking the egg in her arms. "Also, class, remember, if you drop the eggs, they will break, just like a child if you dropped them."

Zelgadis nodded slowly. "Hello..." He muttered quietly.  "... Uhm... which house do you want to stay at? ... Yours? ..." 

Amelia tapped her chin; "Well definitely have enough space at my house. But, daddy might think you're my boyfriend or something at first until I explained it to him.... And then he'd probably watch us the whole time, but that's not so bad..."

Gourry placed his chin on the desk, blinking at her. "What do we have to do again?"

Lina released an exasperated sigh and flicked his nose, "Baka! You forgot already? We're supposed to take care of some demented egg as if it was our kid for the weekend."

The teacher then began handing out the eggs to the 'couples'. "Do take care of them, and if any of you come back with a broken one... you fail this class."

Zelgadis blushed a bit and took the egg, he did not want that happening if he went to her house, oh no.  "... Uhm... Well I just live with my grandfather... We don't have that big of a house but we have extra rooms.  I don't think he would mind much, after I tell him about the project." Then again, Rezo had a habit of talking to new people he met a lot... Sometimes embarrassing talks.  As he thought about this he blushed again.   

Amelia sweat dropped at the teacher. Drop the egg and you fail the entire class? That didn't seem Just. She nodded at Zel, "Okay, your house then!" She reached for the egg, "Oh we should name it Seigi!"

Gourry blinked at her, poking at the egg. "I never knew you could lay eggs, Lina...."

Lina stared at him blankly for a moment, "BAKA! I never LAID the egg! That's something some animals do!" She huffed and removed her head from her arms. "I say we call it... Egg."

The teacher finished handing out the eggs, and went back to her desk. "At four fifteen, the eggs will be turned on." She paused, and the bell rang. "I'll see you all in the morning on Monday."

Zelgadis gave her the egg, then stared at her oddly. "We don't have to -name- it... Its just an electronically doll..." He backed up a bit, heading to the door slowly.  "... Uhm... How are you going to get to my house?"

Amelia cooed at the egg. How she could find an egg cute we'll never know. "Well we have to feed it and all that other stuff right? So we might as well name it" She blinked, "Well I'll have to call daddy to tell him I won't be home... Don't you have a car?"

Zelgadis sweat dropped a bit.  "... I don't have a car... I ride on my bike... Uhm... Don't you want to pack, extra clothes or something's like that?  "

Amelia blushed slightly, "Oh, right! I guess I'll call daddy, and get the limo to take me home to get some clothes then take me to your house if you give directions?"

"Yes, it should be at the front of the school like always."

Zelgadis sweat dropped and blushed a bit also, wondering what the 'won't do anything' was supposed to mean.  At least things seemed to be going ok so far.  He waited for Amelia to finish on the phone. 

Amelia took out a cell phone form her bookcase, called her father, and spoke to him about it. "Alright, bye daddy, love you!" She hung up the phone then put it back in her bookcase. "Daddy's okay with it. The limo should be in front of the school to take me to my house to get some stuff then to take me to your house, Okay?"

Zelgadis nodded a bit, heading down the hallway to the front when she caught up with him.  "I'm going with you, to your Dad's house first, right?  So, I can show you the directions when we are coming back?"  

Amelia nodded and reached out for the egg. "Yep!" Well, now was as good a time as any to start a conversation that wasn't about the project. "So, why do you live with your grandfather?"

Zelgadis gave her the egg, going to the front of the school.  "... Well... He is the only family I have, not many other choices."  He looked down at the ground while he walked, swinging the bookcase at his side a bit. 

The driver was waiting, a hand over his mouth as he yawned.

Amelia followed him, since that seemed to be a pretty sad subject for him she changed it and held up the egg. "Are these things just so cute?" She beamed until she spotted the limo and waved at the driver.

Zelgadis sweat dropped again and glanced at the limo, heading down the steps to it.  "...They are just egg-shaped things...how can they be cute?" 

The limo driver stepped over, raising an eyebrow at Zel, but opened the door anyway.

Amelia hopped into the limo, blinking at the egg. "I don't know... It just seems cute to me... maybe if a put it in a dress!" She giggled a little to herself at the visual image of the giant egg thing in a frilly dress.

Zelgadis frowned and looked down, starting to fidget again as he got in the limo after Amelia, ignoring what she was saying about the egg. 

The limo driver closed the door, went to the drivers, climbed in, and began to drive.

Amelia continued to giggle a little to herself, holding the egg an arm's length away from her as she imagined it in various outfits. She glanced over at Zel and blinked, "Is something wrong Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis irked and glanced to her before shaking his head slowly.  "... No. I just never... went to another persons house without my Grandfather or him sending me there for an errand..." 

Amelia found this a little hard to believe, "You mean you haven't had any friends before!?"

Zelgadis blinked at her and shook his head. "No... I just got into public schooling... Grandfather always home schooled me..." 

Amelia set the egg in her lap, "Oh, I'd never be able to stand that! Staying at home all day with no one to talk to? Me and my daddy just moved here, he's the mayor of where we used to live, and so far I've only met you and Lina-san."

Zelgadis blinks at her, eyes widening.  "Your Dad is the mayor?  Wow... my grandfather is a priest... he heals people's illnesses, some people go to him instead of the doctor...."

Amelia blinks, "How does he heal people? With spells or something, that kind of stuff is so cool!" She beamed.

Zelgadis erred then frowned, thinking.  "I suppose you could call it cool... I don't really think much of it. "

The limo pulled up in front of the house. "Amelia-san, should I wait here for you?" The driver asked, looking at the two from his mirror.

Amelia nodded, "Yes, I shouldn't take long! Here, hold Seigi-chan" She handed the egg, now dubbed 'Seigi-chan', to Zel the hopped out of the car and into the house.

Zelgadis irked and took the egg, refusing to call it, Seigi-chan.  He guessed he just waited in the car...He glanced to the mirror and shifted uncomfortably, glancing to the door of the house.

The driver smiled, and waited. Phil was currently over run by multiple people from Seyruun. "Sir, you cannot pass this law!" "No, you have to pass it! The people need the law to beat their children!" "It's Unjust to beat children!" Phil roared, and the man shut up rather quickly. And, the arguing was brought back up by another; "But kids need discipline!" The butler walked over to Amelia. "I'm sorry, Miss, but your father is still quite busy..."

Amelia sighed, "Alright..." She went up the stairs and into her room. She set her bookcase on the bed then grabbed a duffle bag and began stuffing all the stuff she'd need for the weekend inside.

Zelgadis blinked, hearing some of the yells from inside of the house.  He shifted again. It must be busy being the mayor and all.  He watched the door of the house as he thought, waiting for her to come back.

The driver sighed, shaking his head. "I wish they'd just go away, the Mayor has no time to be with his dear daughter now..." He gazed over his shoulder. "She's already dating."

Amelia put the last item in the bag, some toothpaste. Then skipped down the stairs. "Bye daddy!" She yelled, though she doubted he heard it then made her way outside toward the limo. Luckily she didn't hear the driver's last comment.

Zelgadis blushed profusely and shook his free hand quickly in front of him, flustered.  "OH!  Nooo!  I-its not like that!  S-she has to stay at my house for the weekend, for a school project."  He motioned at the egg he was holding, not noticing Amelia coming back. 

He chuckled, winking at Zel. "Right, right. Welcome back, miss." He said, as Amelia entered the limo. "Where to?"

Amelia luckily didn't hear the rest of their conversation either. "Zelgadis-san's house... Um you can tell him the way Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis blushed more, nodding slowly.  "... Ah... Yes... Just go back to the school and I'll tell you the way from there..." 

The driver turned the limo around, and drove back towards the school.

Amelia picked up the egg and blinked at it, "It should be turning on soon..."

Zelgadis frowned.  "Just... be careful not to drop it... Ok?" 

The driver reached the school, and followed the directions Zel gave him, and flinched as a sudden loud wail emitted from the egg.

Amelia pouted, "What makes you think I'll drop it?" Sure she was a klutz and all but... she yelped and almost -did- drop it when it suddenly wailed. She began rocking it, "Um, it's okay, don't cry!"

Zelgadis winced and put his hands over his ears, glancing to it. 

The baby continued to wail, when there was a sudden very... disgusting smells filling the limo.

Amelia sweat dropped and held her nose, "Oh yea... these things can actually do... that. How far to your house so we can change it's diaper?"

Zelgadis also held his nose.  "Just do it in here so you can make it stop wailing!!!" 

The wailing continued as the driver noticed the shrine's sign, and pulled up. "There."

Amelia sweat dropped, "Do we even have any diapers?" She noticed the sign too and immediately stepped out of the car, holding the egg and arm's length away from her.

Zelgadis Graywords groaned and practically snatched it from her, taking the extra diapers the teacher gave him and, changed the baby's diaper right there in the car, eyebrow twitching as he did so. 

Amelia blinked, she was impressed. "Have you ever done that before?"

The driver seemed to be gagging on the stench, trying not to throw up. A family with a newborn baby was coming down the multiple steps as they blinked at Amelia. "Must be wanting her fortune read...." The woman told her husband, who nodded.

The blush grew on the bridge of his nose as he finished, nodding slightly.  "Yeah..."  

Amelia picked up the dirty diaper, holding it with her thumb and index finger. She grabbed her duffle bag and stepped out of the car, "We better go before the driver throws up… Bye!"

Zelgadis climbed out of the limo, making sure he had everything.  

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun still held the dirty diaper, "Where can I throw this away?"

Zelgadis pointed to a garbage can outside the shrine, holding the egg with one arm.  "Over there..."  

Rezo began walking towards Zel, and he was -glaring- at him.

Amelia quickly deposited the dirty diaper in the garbage can then blinked at Rezo. She glanced between Zel and Rezo... that didn't look good

Zelgadis blushed a bit and his eyes widened, looking as if he wanted to shrink or disappear. "G-Grandfather!  I can explain!  R-really I can!!!!"  

Rezo hugged Zel, and blinked. "Explain what?" He hadn't noticed Amelia, and he figured the egg was a project.

Amelia sweat dropped, the hugging thing certainly wasn't strange to her, it happened to her all the time. The glaring was the strange part... She stepped towards them and held out her hand to shake, "Hi! You must be Zelgadis-san's grandfather, I'm Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun I'm working with him on a project for school."

Zelgadis exhaled heavily, the blush leaving.  "Ah… this is Amelia..." He motioned to Amelia with his free hand.  "She has to stay at our house for the weekend, it's a school project, for that new class I told you about..." He nodded his head at the egg.  "We have to take care of this egg, thing.  So it might start crying a lot over the weekend...You don't mind, right?" 

Rezo slumped. "For the first time in nights I thought I'd actually get some rest... those nightmares of mine haven't stopped coming... Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun? Named after the Princess who died, thousands, and thousands of years ago?"

Amelia blinked, "Nightmares? ... I didn't even know there was a princess that lived thousands of years ago with the same name as me! That's so strange!" She suddenly had a brief flash of deja vu, but she brushed it off as just that, deja vu.

Zelgadis frowned to him.  He seemed to act less nervous around Rezo than he did at school and in the limo.  "You've tried everything?  I'll try to keep the crying to a minimum..." He watched Rezo and Amelia talk. He had heard the story of the princess, but he had forgotten her name a while ago, since it was one of those stories he heard of as a child.  

Rezo nodded. "Oh yes, the crown princess, daughter of Philionel El Di Seyruun. She fell in love with a chimera.... Zelgadis Graywords." He mused, watching the two. "But then something happened... and they left. The people of Seyruun never seen their princess alive after that."

Amelia decided to stay out of their conversation about nightmares... though, she blushed after hearing the story of the princess, "That's very weird... That's my Daddy's name and that's Zelgadis-san's name..."

Zelgadis blushed a lot and glared at Rezo, still holding the egg in one arm.  He thought Rezo probably made up those names, just to tease him again like he always did.  

Rezo tapped his chin, resting on his staff. "But then there was Lina Inverse... The Dragon Spooker, Bandit Killer, etc, etc... And her 'knight', Gourry Gabriev."

Amelia was pretty creeped out by now, "I-I Have a friend named Lina.... Lina Inverse."

Zelgadis blinked, remembering those named from when everyone was being paired up in class... oh well, Rezo did know a lot of people.  He sighed heavily and shook his head.  "... Rezo?  Are you done in the shrine for today?"

Rezo nodded. "Yes. Do you want me to fix you all dinner?"

Amelia tried to shrug off all the... very strange coincident. "That would be nice!"

Zelgadis shifted the egg to his other arm.  "Yeah, unless you want me to again."  

Rezo glowered at Zel. "Don't be smart with me, boy... Amelia, dear, go ahead and have Zelgadis take you to his room, make sure that thing's taken care of."

Amelia sweat dropped, "Okay..." She reached for the egg again and waited to follow Zel... This was a weird family; of course she was probably the last person that should say that.

Zelgadis had grinned a bit when Rezo glowered at him, it seemed they had little arguments often.  He gave her the egg and started to lead her to the house.  

Amelia followed him, rocking the egg a little. "So what do we have to do? Feed it, change it and entertain it all weekend?" Rezo hesitated, before he limped after them, using both hands on the staff to help him. He panted, and stopped every so often for a break. As he went into the house, he leaned against the wall. "Zelgadis! Before you eat lunch, I want you to make sure the guest bedroom has plenty of blankets." He then limped into the kitchen, grumbling.

Zelgadis glanced back worriedly at Rezo, before nodding.  "Right." He led Amelia to the guest room, watching the ground as he muttered a few different things under his breath.  

Amelia blinked, glancing between Zel and Rezo again. "Is something wrong with his legs or something?" "He is just getting old... He refuses to admit it, and let me do some things for him.  Like cooking."  Zelgadis sighed heavily, setting up some things for her.  "I wish he would."

Amelia looked down at the egg to see if it was sleeping since it hadn't made any noise lately. "That's so sad!"

Zelgadis didn't look at her, finishing setting up the guestroom.  "I suppose you could say it's sad.  I don't think he is going to... go... anytime soon, he doesn't look that old, so his health can't be too bad.  He -is- a priest."

Amelia set her duffle bag down somewhere in the room, "Are you going to be a priest too? Is the position inherited I mean?"

Zelgadis blinked at her, surprised by the question. "I never really thought about it.  It wouldn't be that bad of a job." He shrugged and brushed himself off a bit.  "Perhaps you should put the egg down somewhere." 

Amelia blinked and looked at the egg again, "You mean just leave it here? I think we're supposed to treat it as if it were a real child..." The egg began to wail once it 'heard' it was going to be left.

Zelgadis winced and covered his ears. "OKAY, OKAY!  WE WON'T LEAVE IT!" The egg shushed.

Amelia winced, holding the egg away from her. "No! Its okay!" She said to the egg then sweat roped… it was kind of hard trying to soothe... an egg.

Zelgadis twitched and glared at the egg, muttering.  "How are we going to feed it..." He said, heading back out of the guest room.

Amelia followed him while rocking the egg, "Didn't the teacher give us bottles?" 

"Yeah." He muttered, picking up his bookcase that he left outside the guest room, taking out a bottle from it. 

Amelia took the bottle and blinked at the egg's mouth, "I guess Seigi is hungry!" She held the bottle close to its mouth. Guess she's back to calling it Seigi again.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and headed to the kitchen, looking to see if Rezo finished. The egg's mouth remained shut, and it groaned. Rezo had finished, and was lying on the couch, soft snores emitting from him.

Amelia blinked, "Well maybe she's not hungry..." Now she was calling it a 'she'!

Zelgadis smiled slightly and turned to Amelia, putting his index finger in front of his mouth as a 'shh' sign. Amelia nodded and following him to the kitchen while whispering, "Well she's not hungry and we've already changed her so now what?"

"We should take our food back to the guest room. We don't want to be eating and it start crying suddenly, and wake him up."  He whispered back, picking up his plate. Amelia balanced the egg with one arm while picking up a plate with her other one, "Okay!"

Zelgadis lead her back to the guest room quietly, closing the door behind them when they got in. Amelia sat down, putting the egg next to her and hoping it wouldn't roll away. "I get the feeling this is going to be really boring" She pouted.

The egg began to wail. Zelgadis jerked, wincing, his hand quickly reaching out to pick it up. Amelia face faulted and set her plate on the opposite side of her then reaches for the egg at the same time he did which caused her fingers to brush against his. And they got spiffy quick images of memories through their heads, all of their memories returning. Zelgadis emitted a shout, backing up quickly, and eyes wide.  He stared at the egg for a moment, before looking to Amelia.  His mouth opened a bit, as if to say something but couldn't.  He closed it and looked down at his hands, an expression of joy going across his face for a minute.  

Amelia stared blankly ahead with her mouth slightly open as the memories flashed across her mind. When that was over she blinked several times then stared at her hands with an expression of disbelief. She broke the silence by literally jumping in the air shouting, "YATTA! I'm alive!"

A small chuckle came from his throat, closing his hands then opening them again slowly.  He whispered something under his breath, ignoring Amelia.  "I'm... human."  He said again, a bit louder, seeming to forget the egg was still wailing, and Amelia was there.

Amelia was basically hopping up and down, rambling to herself. She didn't seem to notice Zel or the egg either she was simply that excited. "Oh, I wonder if the others are alive too! Oh, that's right they are! I wonder if they know? I wonder how it happened... Its true, Justice DOES always triumph!"

"Ha -HA!-" He exclaimed, grinning.  He backed a bit and tripped on his own feet, falling down to a sitting position.  He blinked in shock for a few seconds before getting up, grinning again. 

Amelia turned around and noticed Zel was there for the first time. She literally glomped him, jumping towards him and sort of tackling him into a hug with her arms around his neck. "Zelgadis-saaaaan!"

Zelgadis blushed, blinking.  "Ah..." He began to get over himself being giddy, the wailing of the egg and Amelia reminding him.  He stood there in shock for a minute before he recovered fully.  "We... have to get the egg to be quiet..." He muttered, remembering about Rezo and the project. 

Amelia didn't move from her position she just looked up at him and blinked, "Egg? What egg- Oh that!" She stood and picked up the egg. "Don't cry! Today is a good day!"

Zelgadis blinked, and glanced at the door, hoping all the shouting and the wailing didn't wake him up. He suddenly glared at the door remembering his other relationship with Rezo.  He crossed his arms, thinking.  This wasn't the same Rezo, it was a different one... kind of.  He didn't have to be mad at, this one.  But this one was so -close- to the other one.  He shook his head and looked back to Amelia and the egg. The egg then shut up, cooing.

Amelia sat down, holding the egg awkwardly; it suddenly felt very weird to be holding a giant egg. She blinked at Zel, "Um... Zelgadis-san... What happened?"

Zelgadis shook his head slowly.  "Don't know..." It did all seem very strange... he was sure they had, died.  _So what -did- happen?_  Rezo walked in, after knocking. "Zelgadis?" He looked rather weary, and his dark brown eyes were rather 'sad' in a way. The egg began to snore.

Zelgadis jerked, watching him for a minute before a slightly worried expression went over his face.  "What's wrong? Did, ah, we wake you up?"  

Amelia erred, she remembered the other Rezo, the evil one that they had to fight... But this one wasn't was he? She tried to seem 'normally' and busy taking care of the egg. Rezo seemed to notice how they were feeling towards him, and paused, before shaking his head, staring at the ground. "I just... thought I'd tell you that I was going to my bedroom..." He shifted a little, gazing from one teen to the other, and then to the egg. "It's how most children are... they know what they want. Their parent's just don't know -how- to give it to them." When saying this, he gazed directly at Zel.

Amelia looked up at Rezo. Did he have his memories back too? He seemed sad or guilty about something, maybe turning Zel into a chimera in his past life? Well, he doesn't seem evil she concluded so it was okay to be nice to him. "Good night, Rezo-san!"

Zelgadis his eyes widened slightly, going quite still.  "Ah..."  He snapped out of it and also shifted, looking away to the egg.  "Right... try to have better dreams tonight..."

He chuckled. "Doubt it... don't stay up too late..." He whispered hoarsely, and left the room, shutting the door quietly.

Amelia set the egg down, "Now what?" At first, he didn't seem to hear her, but snapped out of it and looked up.  "We should wait until Monday... Perhaps Lina, or Gourry, have their memories back..." The egg began to wail, once again.

Amelia nodded, looking down at the egg again. After remembering her entire past life which was filled with action and adventure, taking care of some electronic egg for a school project didn't seem so important. She sweat dropped and picked the egg up, starting to rock it. Even if it wasn't that important anymore she still couldn't let it cry!

Zelgadis sweat dropped, watching her with his hands over his ears.  "I hope it doesn't wail overnight..."

Amelia began rocking the egg, patting it on it's 'back'. "I wonder if we can still do magic?" She suddenly wondered. It wailed more, it's 'stomach' making a gurgling noise. Zelgadis looked for where Amelia put the bottle, grabbing it and putting it to the baby's mouth while Amelia was holding it.  "Doesn't it have a 'sleep' button or something?"

Amelia sweat dropped, "I don't think so... I guess there's a reason why no one build giant eggs when we were alive..." It took the nipple of the bottle, and began drinking. There was a crashing noise outside.

Zelgadis irked, glancing.  "I'll go look." He muttered, handing the bottle to Amelia while trying to let the egg still drink from it.  

Amelia stood up while still holding the egg and the bottle and followed Zel. "I'll go too!" "Uhm… alright." He muttered, opening the guest room door and went outside to see what the noise was. 

The trashcan had been tipped over, and trash was -everywhere-.

Amelia wrinkled her nose, she would try to grab it but her hands were full because of the egg. "What do you think did that?"

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow and looked around, trying to see if anything was moving, or something that resembled a person, or animal.  "Dunno yet."  There was no movement.

Amelia wondered if it was a mazoku. She shook her head, of course not! They'd certainly mostly died out by now, right? And they wouldn't bother knocking over a trashcan. "...Tch, might have been a cat."  He said, as he leaned down to pick up the trashcan and put it back up straight. And, a dog tackled Zel to the ground.

Amelia sweat dropped and looked down at the egg. She wondered if she could just set it down and help Zel. He shrieked, loudly, and held his arms up in front of his face, eyes huge. 

Amelia's sweat drop became bigger. Zel never acted like that when he was attacked in his past life... but he was a chimera then and she wasn't sure if they could even use magic now. "Shoo!" She waved her foot at the dog since her arms were full. The dog bit at Amelia, and licked Zel's face. The dog had been the stray Rezo's been feeding for a couple of weeks now, but Rezo had forgotten to feed him that day.

Amelia scooted back to avoid getting bitten. She hoped the egg wouldn't start wailing again.

Zelgadis blinked and muttered, trying to block his face from the dog.  "Agghhh, stop it.  Get off.  I'll feed you, OFF." The dog continued to give him 'kisses'.

Amelia sweat dropped, "You know that dog, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis tried to push it off of him, sighing.  "Yeah, it's a str- OFF!  Blegh... It's a stray that Rezo has been fee- grrr... feeding." It got off him, and whined a little, giving Zel puppy eyes. It looked to be a Labrador, a chocolate one.

Amelia reached out to pet him, "Awe, he's cute!" It sniffed her hand, and then began to lick it, standing on Zel to do so.

Amelia backed up a little, hopefully so that he would follow her and move off Zel.

Zelgadis muttered, glaring at it.

The dog sat on Zel, barking happily.

Amelia carefully set the egg down then tried to push the dog off Zel, "Off, please?" The dog whined, and stepped off him... then tackled the egg.

Amelia practically screamed, "Nooo!"

Zelgadis got up and muttered, brushing himself up.  "Dumb dog..." glanced, and began to pale, a lot.  "ACK!  BAD.  NONONO!" 

The egg wailed, and the dog licked it, barking. "...At least it didn't break..." He muttered.

Amelia made a dive for the egg.

The dog rolled it away with its nose.

Amelia ended up just falling flat on her face then. She lifted her face off the ground, groaning a little. Zel made a sharp whistle, picking up a bowl from the ground and tapped it a bit. The dog ignores the tapping and whistling completely, running away with the egg as it wails.

Zel twitched and chased after it. "COME BACK HERE!"

Amelia got up and chased it too. At times like this she wished she could cast a levitation spell... wait a minute, maybe she could! The dog continued to run away with the egg, and then accidentally rolled it down the hill. 

"AGH!  NO!  STOP! IT MIGHT BREAK!"  He kept yelling different things, chasing it as fast as he could, in the back of his mind he wished he were a chimera again, he could have caught up to it by now if he could.  But he put that thought away very quickly.

Amelia ran towards the hill then jumped down it head first with her arms stretched out in front of her shouting, "Levitation!" She prayed that it would work... Otherwise this was going to hurt.

The dog stopped once the egg began rolling down the hill, and looked up at Zel. Yes, Amelia could cast levitation. However... the wailing egg continued rolling down the hill. The shrine and house was placed on a large hill, thus the steps leading up to it.

Zelgadis' eyes got huge and he rushed past the dog, continuing to run down the hill.  He nearly tripped now and then, from going downhill, but managed to stay upright, and keep running.

The egg rolled down and landed in a bush... but gravity made it roll into the road.

Amelia cracked an eye open. "It works!" She cheered then tried to go faster, chasing the egg into the road while only about a foot or two above ground so that she could make a quick grab for it... She was suddenly aware of how cold it was near her legs and remembered why she never wore skirts or flew at this angle when she did!

Zelgadis stopped when Amelia got ahead of him. He looked, and a quick blush went over the bridge of his nose, a sweat drop going down the side of his face.  He made a small 'eep' sound, the blush growing as he stared for a few more seconds before quickly averting his gaze, seeing if there were any cars or vehicles coming.

The dog howled from where it was, and the egg stopped rolling.

Amelia suddenly stopped her flying and stood in the middle of the road with her hands on her butt and a huge blush on her face. She blinked and began walking over to the egg cautiously, to see if it was broken. The egg was wailing hysterically, but it wasn't broken or cracked.

Zelgadis gulped and watched for any cars, walking to the edge of the road, catching his breath.

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief with a hand on her chest then picked up the egg and tried to calm it. Why couldn't Zel ever be the one to calm the egg? The egg continued to wail and scream. A few people turned on their lights and yelled; "SHUT THAT BABY UP!" as it was already pretty late.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and ran over.  "Here, let me try." Amelia handed the egg to Zel, seeming glad to be rid of it. She began straightening out her skirt nervously even if she didn't need to.

Zel began to rock it slowly, muttering 'shh' over and over. It continued to wail, and the dog walked over, nudging Zel's leg as it whimpered.

Zelgadis nodded to the dog a bit, and then looked back to the egg, he swallowed hard then began to hum softly. The egg whimpered as the dog walked over and nudged Amelia, whimpering.

Amelia patted the dog on the head then cooed, "That's so sweet!"

Zelgadis continued to hum softly, blushing a bit as he headed back up the hill, motioning with his head for Amelia to follow.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun followed Zel, "I hope those people aren't too bad..."

Zelgadis sighed heavily, sweat dropping. "Oh well..." He leaned down for a minute to pick up the bowl he had dropped on the way down the hill, continuing up it. 

Amelia smiled, "Well... at least now we know we can still use magic, or most of it!" She flashed the Victory sign. The dog growled, and chased a squirrel up the tree, barking at it.

Zelgadis moaned, glaring at it.  "Shut UP already, stupid dog." He muttered and went inside.

Amelia mushroom cloud sighed and followed Zel, "Do you think we should try visiting Lina-san and Gourry-san tomorrow?" "We don't know where they are.  We can wait until Monday..."

Amelia sighed, "Well I'm ready to go to bed." The dog stopped barking and looked at Zel. Animals aren't stupid, and just because they don't really understand, they know when they're 'disliked' 'or people are mad at them'. The dog lowered its head, and padded down the road. The egg continued to snore.

Zelgadis stopped and glanced at the dog, frowning.  "Oh come on, I'm going to feed you."  He said to it, and then glanced to Amelia.  "Are you going to keep the egg with you?  Or is it staying in my room?"

"How about the egg stays with me today and with you tomorrow?" She asked. The dog slowly padded back, but a few feet away from them.

Amelia blinked at the dog, "I think you hurt his feelings!"

Zelgadis sighed heavily and shook his head.  "Alright..." He handed the egg to her then nearly moaned at what she said.  "Just, go to bed now... I need to feed it still."

Amelia took the egg and glanced at the dog one last time. "Okay, good night Zelgadis-san!" She giggled slightly and stood on her toes so she could give him a peck on the cheek then scurried off to the guest room. The dog watched this, and gave some growl noise, not offensive... but more like... ah... well, you know. And the dog even seemed to 'wink'.

Zelgadis made a small noise, eyes widening and a quick blush spreading across his face.  He stared after her, his mouth slightly open.  He shook his head quickly and glanced to the dog, blinking.  "Ah... well, I have to feed you then, don't I?" He went into the kitchen and searched around quietly for some dog food. The dog followed, wagging its tail. He poured some dog food and went back outside, placing the bowl down. 

The dog began to eat rapidly, making a big mess. Zelgadis sweat dropped and sighed heavily, heading back inside. The dog quickly finished, and ran after him.

Zelgadis glanced at him. "You are supposed to stay outside..." The dog whimpered. Zelgadis erred and blinked before sighing heavily.  "Oh, fine.  But don't let Rezo see you." The dark barked and followed him.

Zelgadis shushed him quickly and sneaked into his room, letting the dog in. The dog ran... and jumped on Zel's bed.

Zelgadis stared at him, gaping.  "No!  No, no!  NOT on my bed!" The dog began to bounce on the bed. "Off!" He hissed, trying to move it off the bed. The dog jumped off and scratched at the door.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and opened the door, blinking.

The dog ran down the hall, and into the living room. It found a corner, squatted.

Zelgadis paled and sweat dropped, eyebrow twitching a bit, the dog... simply crapped.

Zelgadis moaned loudly, slapping his forehead.  

The dog climbed onto the couch, and curled up.

Zelgadis whined and got some paper towels, cleaning it up, a bit of blue tinting his face.

The dog began to snore. However, Rezo limped out of his room, and into the kitchen, he was wearing his usual night attire, and got himself a glass of water, he leaned against the fridge, and dropped a few unknown pills into the water. After a moment, Rezo drank the entire cup, still not noticing Zel.

Zelgadis blinked at Rezo, watching him. Rezo poured himself some more water, and dumped two more into it, and drank it again, panting. Zelgadis blinked and tried to see the label of the bottle Rezo was getting the pills from. Rezo set it down, and stumbled back to his room, he had been clutching his chest as he did so. A worried expression went over his face... he shook his head quickly and muttered, why would he be worried about Rezo -now-? But still... He glanced at the bottle and took it, looking at the label.

The bottle was a type of pills that help with a heart disease. However... you were only supposed to take two pills with water. Zelgadis blinked, the worried expression growing.  "Doesn't he read the -directions-..." He whispered slightly, glancing to Rezo's door. The dog had awoke and was nudging Zel's leg, whimpering. Zelgadis blinked at the dog and petted him slowly, glancing back at the door.

The dog emitted another whimper, and walked up to Rezo's door. There were sounds of Rezo walking around his room, before finally getting into bed.

Zelgadis got up.  "Don't wake him up... I'll talk to him in the morning..." The dog whined, and walked over to the guest room's door, and scratched on it.

Zelgadis blinked.  "Don't wake -her- up either..." It whined, and padded around in circles.

Zelgadis "What is wrong now?" He rubbed his head, watching it. It tackled Zel, and cuddled against him. Awe, the puppy wants cuddles.

Zelgadis resisted shouting again, sweat dropping.  "You are going to keep me up -all- night, aren't you?" It tugged on his shirt, as if trying to drag him to bed.

Zelgadis muttered and got up, shooing it away from his shirt as he went into his room. The dog pranced after him.

Zelgadis closed the door and muttered.  "No going to the bathroom in here, got it?" It nodded, and jumped on the bed. Oh... by the way... the doggy is a girl. "Off the -BED-" He pointed to a corner of his bedroom. She whimpered, tilting her head to the side. 

"Off.  Bed."

Slowly, she got off the bed.

Zelgadis Graywords twitched, watching. She padded over to a corner, and sat in it. Zelgadis twitched and shook his head; by this time he was extremely tired and wasn't even going to bother changing into his pajamas. He simply began to climb into bed. The Labrador took a step towards him.

Zelgadis glanced.  "What?" 

She sat down.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow but laid down, watching it for a bit until he looked up at the ceiling. She took this time to sneak over to him, and put her head on the bed. Zelgadis glanced but let her, squinting a bit. She put a paw on the bed, and whimpered, giving him big eyes... similar to Amelia's.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and muttered a lot, but he gave up and pointed at the foot of the bed. She moved down, and climbed onto the foot of the bed, rather happily.

Zelgadis glared at her before turning on his side, muttering more.

Morning came, but twice Amelia was woken by screams from the egg. And the doggy is now stretched out over Zel.

Amelia stepped out of the guest room, holding the egg in one arm. She covered her mouth as she yawn. There were faint lines under her eyes, due to her being awakened twice.

Zelgadis is still fast asleep, muttering things in his sleep now and then. The doggy rolled over, her back paws being put into his face. Rezo was cooking sausage, bacon, ham, pancakes, and eggs.

Amelia stepped into the kitchen and blinked... Rezo cooking breakfast was a weird sight "Good morning, Rezo-san!"

He forced a smile, and waved over at her. "Ohayou, is Zelgadis up?"

A loud shout and some frustrated yelling emits from Zel's room as he shoves the dog off him.

Amelia sweat drops, "Well he is now..." The doggy yelped, and fell off the bed. Rezo blinked. "I... see...."

More yelling.  "GOD DANGIT.  NOW I SMELL LIKE DOG."  Zel isn't a morning person until he has had his coffee, or tea.

The dog ran into the door repeatedly, trying to get out.

Zelgadis got up and opened the door, twitching a bit.  

Amelia sweat dropped more, "Um... should I check on him?"

The dog ran out, tail between her legs, as she tackled Amelia, whimpering.

Zelgadis twitched again, a few hairs sticking out, he closes his door and went to do, morning things. 

Amelia tried to sit up with the dog still on her, "Wha?" Rezo blinked at the dog, and set down a plate of two pancakes, three sausages and two bacons for it. The dog got up, and quickly ran over, beginning to eat.

Amelia stood up and dusted herself off. She picked up the egg and sat down, putting the egg in her lap. "This looks good, Rezo-san!"

Rezo gave Amelia a plate similar to the dog's, but with eggs. "Here you go." He also gave her a glass of milk. "Here you go." The dog finished it, and padded over to a corner, where she sat, ready to run incase Zel came after her.

Amelia wondered why Rezo seemed sad, "Thanks Rezo-san!" With that she began digging in, eating like she used to... She hadn't eaten like that in a long time and it felt good.

Zelgadis came out of his room now, running a hand through his hair, he had changed his clothes.  When he saw Rezo he remembered last night and frowned.  "Rezo? Can I talk to you?"

Rezo nodded, and turned the stove off, walking over to Zel. "Yes?" "Uhm... I... think you were to tired last night... but... well..." He looked away and toward the counter Rezo had left the pill bottle.

Amelia glanced back and forth between them, and then looked to the side to let them know she wasn't listening.

Rezo followed his gaze, and gave a small twitch, but he laughed. "Yes, they're for my heart. But you don't really care about that, right? Right." He turned, and went back to the stove, fixing Zel some food. "I know, I took too much last night, but I was really hurting."

Amelia stared, while Zel stepped forward, "But… why that many?" He whispered.

Rezo shook his head. "You shouldn't have to care about this old man. I knew my grandson was incarnated; I knew you had hated whoever I was. When you were born, a part of you disliked me. But as you grew, you didn't show that part, until last night." He gazed to Amelia, and chuckled again, turning back to Zel. "When you were young, after your parents left you with me, I did a lot of research about your past."

Zelgadis' eyes widened and he gaped at him, at a loss for words.  "I-... I... R-... Rezo..." 

Amelia turned in her seat to face them. She frowned slightly but decided it was best for her to stay out of it for once.

Rezo smiled over his shoulder. "It's alright. I'll rent you an apartment if you'd like, Zelgadis. I doubt you'd want to stay with someone who looks like the person who... turned you into something."

Zelgadis gaped at him for another moment or two before he glared at him, however, the glare didn't seem to be all anger. He quickly turned and went back into his room, slamming the door behind him.   

Rezo looked down at the stove, and laughed. "Did I say something wrong?" The dog slowly approached, sitting by Amelia as she tilted her head at Rezo.  

Amelia frowned, glancing at Zel's door then at Rezo. "So... you know we've had a past life?"

He nodded. "Just recently. I had to learn about the Princess Amelia before I learned anything about   Zelgadis... I will rent him an apartment, and... he's also in my will. Whenever I die, he gets all my money I've made, the house, and the shrine. The entire yard, too." The dog whimpered a little.  

Amelia couldn't stand it, she had to do a Justice speech or some form of speech! "Rezo-san, don't talk about dying like you have nothing to live for! Okay, I'll admit that Zelgadis-san didn't like the Rezo that we knew back then and he was very evil, we had to stop him from destroying the world. But even that wasn't his fault; he was... possessed by an evil lord if you can believe that. But you're not evil and you've never done anything to Zelgadis-san to make him hate you now!"

Rezo smiled, and looked over at Amelia. "I hope you will be my granddaughter in law one day... but you see... it's not that what might make him hate me... it's my name... and that I look like him. That's why I took more pills than I should have. When I seen your expressions, I knew that you two knew... and it hurt me. I got scared he would hate me... He's the only child that was really a son to me. His mother was taken from me when his grandmother divorced me, you see..."

Amelia blushed at his first comment, "Zelgadis-san is really stubborn, he's probably trying to make himself hate you but I don't think he can... He still remembers everything you've done in this life too."

Rezo nodded a little. "Oh, yes... he can be very stubborn, especially when he was five, and didn't want a bath..." He paused, and shook his head. "Anyway... eat your break fast, I'll... go see if Zelgadis is hungry..." He stumbled into the hall, and lightly rapped on Zel's door.

There was some shifting before Zel's voice comes from his room, its tinged with some anger.  "What is it?"

Amelia blinked, sighed then began eating what was left of her breakfast.  

Rezo placed his forehead against the door. "Do you wish to eat breakfast?" There was a pause for a second. "Yes."

Rezo sighed. "Well... come on out and eat... I'll go to the shrine." There is another pause of silence before he came out of his room, heading to table.

Rezo went into his room, and took his staff, from there, he went to Amelia, and whispered quietly. "When you get a chance, not yet... but if you two leave, tell Zelgadis that I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. I have a feeling I won't see him..." He paused, and looked away, then he quickly went outside. The dog stared at Zel and Amelia.

Amelia blinked, "Okay Rezo-san..." She hoped he didn't go and kill himself or something.

He glanced at Rezo leaving at sat down at a chair, eating slowly. The dog walked over, and nudged Zel.

Zelgadis glanced to the dog.  "What do you want now?"

Amelia sighed, looking at the egg. "Zelgadis-san do you really hate this Rezo?" The dog tilted her head, and barked.

Zelgadis ignored the dog and glanced to Amelia. He chose to simply not answer her, going back to his food. Amelia frowned slightly then blinked at the dog. The dog growled, and bit his leg, not hard, but nipped it, as if telling Zel that was wrong. She padded over, and nudged Amelia's leg.

Zelgadis twitched and jerked his leg away, but didn't do anything else, continuing to eat slowly.

Amelia blinked, patting the dog on the head then looking back at the egg. The egg suddenly began to smell... bad.

Zelgadis glanced to the egg then to Amelia, wondering if she wanted his help again or not in changing it's diaper.

Amelia sweat dropped, "Not this again…" She held the egg away from her, "Um Zelgadis-san where are the diapers?" Not that she had ever changed a diaper before but there was a first time for everything.

He got up and went into his room, coming back out with his bookcase, rummaging around in it until he found the extra diapers the teacher gave him, handing them to Amelia. 

Amelia took the diaper then scoot her chair away from the table while sweat dropping. "Okay first you just... take off the old diaper..." She took off the dirty diaper then held it away from her with two fingers, "And then you just... um...."

Zelgadis sighed and took it from her, putting the new diaper on, slowly, so Amelia could see how. 

Amelia stood up to throw away the old diaper. "I think we should visit Lina-san and Gourry-san… they're probably in the phone book right?"

The dog merely walked to the couch and jumped onto it.

Zelgadis sighed.  "We don't know which house they are staying at... you want to call both?"

"I don't know who's house they're at though... Who's house do you think they'd rather stay at, Lina-san's or Gourry-san's?" She asked.

Zelgadis shrugged.  "How should I know?" The dog begins to snore, with the egg.

Amelia mushroom cloud sighed, "Guess we'll just have to guess... Well Lina-san is really scared of her sister and I don't know anything about Gourry-san's family." He mumbled slightly, going off to get the phone book.  Amelia set the egg on the couch, trying not to wake it up. The dog whined in her sleep. 

Zelgadis came back, putting the phone book on the table, and began to clean up the table.

Amelia picked up the phone, don't ask how she knew where it was. She began flipping the pages until she made it to the I section. "Hmm. There! Good thing Inverse is a pretty uncommon name." She began dialing a number then waited.

The phone rang three times before someone answered. "WHAT?"

Zelgadis blinked and looked over at the phone, sweat dropping.

Amelia sweat dropped, making a small 'eep' sound, "Er... I-Is Lina-san there?"

"Who the hell is Lina-san?! I DON'T KNOW ANY LINA-SAN! Go to hell and DIE! I don't LIKE bill collect-..." There was a small pause. "Oh, Lina? She went to some friend's house for a project or something."

Amelia, "Okay bye." She squeaked and immediately hung up the phone.

Zelgadis sweat dropped.  "I can see why she is scared..."

The egg let out a random fart.

Amelia flips over to the G section, "She's at Gourry-san's house then." She then sweat dropped at the egg.

Zelgadis sweat dropped, glancing at it.  "You want me to call them?" 

Amelia blinked, "Do you want to?"

Zelgadis shrugged slightly.  "I was just offering."

Amelia ran her finger down a page in the phone book, "Found it! Good thing Lina-san and Gourry-san have weird last names..." And so she dialed the number. The phone only rang once before a female voice answered. "Hello?"

"Hi! Is Lina there?" 

"Who is this?" 

"This is Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, I'm a friend of Lina-san's from school."

"Oh, well..." There was a pause, before the voice hollered; "Lina! There's a friend of yours on the phone!" Another pause. "Oh, I'm sorry, I think Gourry and her are still asleep." 

Amelia sweat dropped, "Okay, thanks anyway. Bye."

Zelgadis had finished cleaning, and was watching her while leaning against the counter.  "What happened?"

"She said that Lina-san and Gourry-san were still asleep." She murmured, disappointed.  Amelia stood up and picked up the egg. "We should take Seigi for a walk!"

"A walk?  Why would we do that?  Even if we are trying to 'treat it like a real baby'?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her. Amelia shrugged, "Well it's better than just sitting around here all day!"

"Well... normally I didn't mind doing that... I just read books... Ah, I mean."  He hadn't realized he had slipped into talking about his current life.  It wasn't a -bad- thing to do he supposed.  He looked down for a minute before looking up again.  "I guess we could go on a walk..."

Amelia skipped towards the door, "I wonder how many people have been reincarnated too? I've seen Filia-san, Lina-san's sister, Sylphiel-san, Val, My daddy..." The egg began to cry.

Zelgadis was about to continue for her until the egg began to cry, looking to it.

Amelia blinked at the egg, "Do you think she's hungry?" The egg wailed.

Zelgadis didn't hear its stomach growling so didn't think so.  "Maybe not, but the last time I saw the bottle it was in your room..." He picked up the egg and began to cradle it slowly. 

"I wonder if she can actually see things? Like watching some Disney movies..." She thought aloud. It stops suddenly.

Zelgadis chuckled slightly at the thought of it watching Disney, then blinked at the egg.  "Do you think, when it was rolling down the hill, some of its circuits got jumbled? It has been stopping a lot for some reason when we didn't really do anything to stop it." Amelia poked the head and blinked, "Maybe... but its not cracked."

The weekend passed quickly, well, for Lina and Gourry anyway. For Amelia and Zel, their traumatized egg continued to cry during the nights, waking both, and Rezo. Now, being Monday, the family care class had been moved to the first class, to rid the eggs ASAP. The -entire- class looked like hell, as most hadn't gotten much sleep during the weekend. The teacher took the eggs when they entered, and took out a chip from each egg. She put it into a computer.

Amelia flopped her head onto the table. A nap sounded perfect at the moment, but she knew that it would be rude to sleep in class. So she propped her chin on her raised palm and waited to hear the results. "My little Seigi is all grown up..." She said with a slight sniffle.

Zelgadis had his arms crossed on the desk his head laying on them with his eyes half closed, muttering over and over about how he needed sleep -now-.  

Lina seemed to be one of the very few who appeared to be completely awake... along with looking bored. She opened her case briefly, shoving her svelte fingers inside, pulling out a simple nail filer. And obviously, she began filing her nails. There really wasn't anything else to do. "La ti daaaaa..." Gourry's hands were behind his head, ankles on his desk, and just leaning back boredly. He too was one of the people that looked all right, but more bored than anything.

The teacher printed out the results, and sat on her desk, giving Gourry and Lina a glower at them. She then began to read the people who had F's... and the teacher even began to tell them what they did wrong, in front of all the other students. When the two couples weren't called, she moved onto D's. Now, couples were called for the D. "Amelia and Zelgadis." She blinked, and gazed at the two in slight confusion, she thought they would have gotten an A.

Amelia sniffled a little. She didn't care about grades as much as she had before with all the recent events, but the other students expected her to be a little overdramatic didn't they? "Oh, Seigi where did I go wrong raising you?" She glanced at Lina and Gourry; she would have to find out of they had their memories back. Between classes wasn't a good time though, maybe at lunch.

Zelgadis heard his name and snapped out of his half daze, jerking up quickly.  "Wha?  Huh?  What did we get again?"  He looked to Amelia, then back at the teacher. 

Lina didn't really notice the glower, really. She lifted her head up once Zel and Amelia's grades were announced, and gave them a brief stare. _Whoa. And here I thought they'd be the best parents. I'm surprised we didn't get an F…_ Gourry yawned, closing his eyes, and just leaning back, boredly. He simply ignored what was going on, not like it really matters or anything. The teacher faintly twitched, but she expected this. She then began to describe everything Amelia and Zelgadis did wrong. "It says your baby rolled down the hill, it says it was harassed by a dog. It also says it was scarred by your dancing... The baby was thrown out of the window three times last night... And it is definitely traumatized..." She shook her head, and went about to calling out more D names. Still, no Lina or Gourry.

Amelia sweat dropped and chuckled nervously. How could she find out all that from some kind of chip? The dog and the hill really wasn't -their- fault... But did that mean she would grow up to be a bad parent? Oh no! Zelgadis gaped slightly, that thing could RECORD all that?! "Wait, dancing?" He became quiet and stared at the table, trying to remember when he was dancing... Sure, he threw the baby out the window a couple of times, but... dancing? 

Lina blinked slowly. _Dancing, huh? Hm. Probably Amelia, but who would be scarred seeing Amelia dance? Unless. .... Nah._ She shook her head a little, somewhat paying attention to the teacher's announcements. "Hm." Gourry yawned, and remained how he was, still pretty much ignoring everything.

Now… the teacher reached the A's, still no Lina or Gourry, until that was done, and she got to the A pluses. Only two couples got A's, and only ONE got A Plus... that one couple was... "... L-Lina and Gourry?" She squeaked, staring at the two teens in amazement. "T-there might be a mistake b-but.... You two got... Pluses... You kept your baby happy, clean.... and f-fed.... you two are the perfect... couple and perfect p-parents..." The teacher seemed like she was going to faint.

Amelia stared at Lina and Gourry. Sure, she thought they were the perfect couple but she'd always been a bit skeptical about how they would raise a child if they had one.

Zelgadis was still wondering when the HELL he was dancing until he heard what Lina and Gourry got, jerking up and looking around to them, wide-eyed.  "Well, it is very possible it was broken..." He whispered to Amelia, or maybe more to himself to reassure that they weren't better than him.  

Lina stopped fiddling with her nails, not bothering to even look up. She stared at them blankly and set the willowy nail filer onto the desk, leaning over the desk itself a little to whisper in Gourry's ear. ".... Did you... take care of that thing while I wasn't looking...?"

Gourry leaned his head back to look at her, and shook his head. "I was gonna ask you that... it just wouldn't shut up, so I shoved it under the bed... remember?" He blinked a few times, confusedly.

The teacher put a chip into the computer, and looked over it. "Well... it says here there was no malfunction, they just... took good care of it." She blinked a few times, and the entire class stared at Lina and Gourry, most girls were impressed with Lina... and a few even began to think Lina would be their best role model.

Amelia was about to say 'Maybe' to Zel when she heard what the teacher said. "That's just... really strange." She blinked a few times

Zelgadis squinted and began to mutter quietly to himself.  "Of course there is something wrong... There has to be.  Perhaps the malfunction took over the circuitry and made it so the chip 'stopped' at one point and rewrote its information..." He continued muttering softly to himself, staring at the desk.

Lina blinked slowly, shrugging. "Yeah... that's right. Wow... maybe we got lucky. .... Let's keep this to ourselves." She nodded quickly and leaned back into the chair, scratching the back of her cranium.  _Weird..._ Gourry shrugged, and yawned, continuing to lean back. And the class was dismissed, too much confusion to the teacher, who continued to study the chip.

~ A/N: Sorry for this being so long, I had a lot of other things to do. Thank you for all the reviews! Chapter four should be done soon, hopefully. ~


	4. Chapter Four

~ A/N: Gomen nasai, minna, for this long wait. I had other things to do, and then I was suspended from fanfiction.net because I put up a songfic that wasn't 'really' a fanfic. I don't know the real reason, but I'm not going to do anything like that again, even though I really wish I could put the songfic back up. Those that read it, and read this too, like Lina Gabriev, thank you all anyway. I just ignored the flames, for the most part, but ones like Lina's review were welcomed. I was glad I could give my readers something they liked, and give me their opinion back, even though I'm not sure that Lina really liked it, but then again…

The whole part of that songfic was to express my feelings and others that I know have the same as me. But that's life.

  
I thank all the readers who reviewed to chapter five… and this is just even more fun! Not the longest, but still pretty fun! Chapter five –will- be coming sometime, as my friends and I all ready finished Role Playing it, I just have to fix it up. Again, thank you all! Now, onto the fic!

Kaimei. ~

Chapter Four.

**Part one.**

It had been a few weeks since school had started, and now was a lucky Friday. Surprisingly, the school had let the student's off for the fair that night, mainly because Filia wanted to spend more time annoying Val. Luna entered Lina's room quietly, having quite an evil look on her face. She had gotten off the phone with Lina's family unit teacher. And she heard what happened. And WHOM Lina stayed with. "My dear, dear sister..." She growled, and literally tackled said individual.

Lina was simply lounging on her bed lazily, seeming quite relaxed - until the sibling of doom entered the room. "Huh? W-what's with--EEP!" Lina was beginning to seem a bit terrified now. Being labeled 'Dear, dear sister', along with a growl wasn't always necessarily a good sign; at least not from Luna.

The older sibling wrapped her hands around Lina's throat and began to violently choke her. "YOU STUPID, IGNORANT CHILD! BRAT! LIAR!" She screamed, shaking her harsher. "How DARE you sleep at a MAN'S house without even telling me?! AND WITH THAT GUY! You little LIAR!" She snarled, slapping Lina repeatedly before shaking her again. And all of the sudden, she ceased, hugging Lina tightly. "You got an A plus! I'm so happy!"

Lina's head basically wobbled a little, her eyes transforming themselves into large swirlies. "Pain... it hurts..." She managed to stay in that state for a few brief moments until she finally snapped out of it, blinking repeatedly. "W-what guy...?!"

Luna slapped Lina a few times again. "Gourry Gabriev. That moron, I also spoke to his mother..." Her voice transformed into a hiss. "She said you two... shared the same ROOM together."

Lina automatically began shrinking back a little, appearing a bit flustered. "A-ah... you see... w-well... it was the teacher! She said to complete the project properly, we had to share an r-room... it wasn't my fault! We didn't do anything bad! I swear!!!"

Luna grabbed Lina's chin, and raised her fist, to smack her. "Liar!" When.... as luck would have it, the downstairs phone rang. Luna squealed and released Lina. "IT'S HIM!" And she jumped off Lina's bed, and ran down the stairs to get it.

Lina winced, rubbing her cheek gently. "Itai..." She frowned and wrinkled her nose, moving off the bed. "Who the heck's 'him'..." Out of sheer curiosity, she removed her hand from her cheek and began to silently tiptoe out of her room and made her way down the stairs. "Hm…"  _Does big sissy poo of mine have a boooyfriend? Hehehe… _

Luna was leaning against the wall, the phone being attached to it, and the wire was being wrapped around her finger. She had a glazed look on her eyes, staring at the ground, and her cheeks were found pink. "Of course I'll go with you tonight...! I'll just make Lina go to the Fair with that one rich friend of hers... but we'll have to be back at twelve." Whatever the man on the other end of the phone said caused her cheeks to go a deeper shade of red. "No, we can't...!"

Lina gradually seated herself onto the last step of the stair case, tilting her head to the side curiously. _Oooh… interesting. Hehe, so she DOES have a certain little boyfriend, eh? And then she gets all menacing with the whole situation with Gourry…. Eesh... what's up with that?! _

Luna nodded and hung the phone up, placing her hands against her chest, and released a dreamy sigh. "He's so... wonderful...!" She hadn't noticed her diminutive sister.

Lina smirked teasingly and clasped both hands together, placing them on one of her cheeks. Her eyes became quite voluminous, all sparkly also. She emitted an exceedingly phony sigh, her voice going rather high-pitched. "He's so.... wonderful...!"

Luna's entire face lit up like a Christmas light, and glared at Lina. "... You little..." She paused, and emitted a soft squeak. "H-how long have you been there?!"

Lina grinned slyly and plopped her elbow onto her thigh, placing her chin onto her palm. "So, who's the guy that has you all drooling and ga-ga-like, hm?"

Luna would normally beat Lina's brains in, but she was still feeling light headed. "Just.... m-my friend!"

Lina quirked a single brow, "Oooh? You were speaking oh so intimately with him - I heard it all. What did he offer that you said 'No, we can't!' to, hm?"

Luna glowered at Lina, her eyelid twitching. "Fine; my boyfriend." She hissed, that light-headed-ness fading.

Lina appeared emotionally 'hurt', placing her hand on her chest, putting up her infamous adorable-morose act. "And you never TOLD me? I thought what we had was SPECIAL!"

Luna huffed and stomped over to Lina, sitting beside her, and for once, didn't raise a hand to smash it into her cranium. "Well, it's the guy you're not very fond of. So I decided I'd tell you when you matured."

Lina blinked slowly, straightening herself. "Aren't I mature enough already? And here you complain about Gourry and I when you have your own little boyfriend..."

Luna snorted. "Gourry doesn't seem... right, baby sister! He'll hurt you I know it! I have a sense about these things."

Lina rolled her eyes. "No way. I know the guy... he can't hurt anyone if he tried to. He's just too dumb to do so, basically."

Luna glared at her younger sister again, before sighing. "I still don't like him. Oscar is -way- better than him..."

Lina sweat dropped. "... Oscar? Pfft, what DO you have against Gourry anyway? And the name Oscar is waaay overused these days..."

Luna slammed her fist into Lina's cranium, harshly, glowering at her. "I just don't like the guy. He'll hurt you. I'm going to go jog, I want you to call Amelia, or whoever, and go to the fair at five tonight. Be home by ten, Oscar's taking me out on a date at four."

Lina emitted a small yelp, immediately covering her head protectively with her lithe arms. "Itai! Okay, okay..."

Luna stood up and went up the stairs, heading to her room to change into her jogging outfit. Ten minutes later, she returned, and merely headed out the door.

Lina grumbled a little and scooted off the step. "No one loves me these days... blah, I'll call Amelia later. Heck, I'm not even sure if she's going to that fair or not..." She placed a hand near her mouth, yawning lazily. "Oh, what to do..."

Three minutes later, it being about one o'clock now, when the phone had suddenly rang, a familiar voice on the other side.

Lina blinked and quickly sauntered over to the phone, picking it up boredly. "What?" She spoke in a somewhat irritated voice, scratching the back of her head.

Gourry paused, for a few moments, before clearing his throat. "Lina?"

Lina shifted her position a bit, blinking repeatedly. "Eh? Gourry?"

Gourry's voice seemed a little nervous, "Yeah.... I was, er.... wondering.... would you like... to go with me to the fair this evening?"

Lina grinned widely. Hehe, screw the idea with going to the fair with Amelia... Luna wouldn't know, right? "YEAH!! Luna was already expecting me to go anyway, she has a date with some guy."

Gourry was pretty relieved now. "Okay... I'll pick you up at five?"

Lina placed a hand on her hip. "Yup! Good time, too... that's the exact time Luna wanted me to leave. We're gonna walk, right?"

Gourry chuckled. "Just wait and see."

Lina blinked. This perked her curiosity greatly. "Huh? Why? I don't wanna wait!"

Gourry yawned. "I'll pick you up at five, so... er... bye?"

Lina huffed a little. "Fine, fine... bye."

The two hung up, and Luna returned, right as the phone was placed back. A few things happened, Luna did everything she had to, and dressed in a very fancy red evening gown. It was now fifteen before four. "Do I look good?" She asked her younger sibling, straightening the dress.

Lina nodded, holding a bowl of pudding in her grasp. She was currently licking her fingers; her lips and the corners of her mouth were entirely smeared in the chocolate substance. "Mmhm, where'd you get that dress--oooh, this pudding is so good..."

Luna snorted, and twirled around for a moment. "Mom's room..." She murmured pulling on some lace gloves and making sure the straps of her high heels were on correctly.

Lina paused for a moment, blinking slowly. "Oh... you actually went in there?"

Luna sighed, and sat beside Lina, nodding. "Mm-hm. I didn't have anything good, and mom -always- dressed better than anyone. She also had a few I'm sure you'd like, even if you dislike dresses. So, Lina..." She paused, to wrap an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Whenever you go on your first date, I don't care -who- it is, tell me, so I can help you find good clothing to wear...!" She forced a smile, shifting her gaze to the ground.

Lina blinked up at Luna with newly smeared pudding covering her cheeks a little. "I guess you're right... okay, then. I suppose I will... but I'm not sure if any of mom's dresses would fit me, anyway."

Luna laughed, smiling at Lina. "All of mom's dresses are adjustable. They fit any size, I think she was planning on having more children before... the accident..."

Lina shrugged a bit, dousing her finger into the pudding. "Ahh, well, the past is the past. Oooh, this pudding is SO good I tell you..."

She rolled her eyes at Lina. "Don't start groaning now." There was a sudden honk from outside, causing the older girl to jump. "Eeep, that's Oscar! I'll probably see you tomorrow! Remember to lock the doors when you leave!" And Luna quickly scurried out.

Lina blinked after her, sticking her finger into her mouth. "Humph... goodbye to you too, sis..." She sauntered out and went into her room, continuing to devour the pudding ravenously. "Oooh, pudding, how I adore you sooo!"

An hour passed, five minutes to five, really, when a black BMW pulled up in front of the house. The individual stepped out of the car, and walked up to the house, knocking on the door. As it was getting dark, the individual couldn't be seen clearly.

Lina blinked slowly and padded over to the door, opening it slowly. Her face was completely absent of the pudding, though she did have the urge to go make some more again. "Hello?"

Gourry had his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "Hey."

Lina brightened up considerably, holding the door completely open. "Whoo, you're here! Sooo, are you gonna tell me what I had to 'wait and see' or what?"

Gourry shifted a little, and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Look over there."

Lina blinked and looked around him. "Don't see why you cou--WHERE'D YOU GET THAT FROM?!"

Gourry scratched his head, blinking. "My mom bought it for me earlier this morning..."

Lina stared at the vehicle for a moment before diverting her attention back towards him. "... You're spoiled, aren't'cha?"

Gourry blinked. "I am?"

Lina placed a hand on her hip. "Gah, never mind. Anyway, ready to go?"

Gourry nodded. "Yeah."

Lina locked the door and stepped out, closing it. "Yaay. Let's get going already! I wanna see the car up close!" She hooked her arm around his and predominantly dragged him towards the automobile.

Gourry's dragged without protest, and yawned.

Lina released him once she reached the vehicle, quickly running around it, just to examine it out of curiosity. "Looks expensive..."

Gourry shrugged, putting his hands back in his pockets. "I guess, my mom said it cost a lot, but she didn't tell me exactly how much..."

Lina prodded the window. "Is it open?"

Gourry nodded. "Yeah."

Lina immediately opened the door and plopped herself down onto the seat next to the driver's. "Then get it already and let's go!"

Gourry walked around, opening his door and climbing in. "Alright."

The car started up, and they drove to the fair. By the time they get to it, people were crowding the entire area, and by the time they're finally in, it was six o'clock. The two then spotted two certain individuals.

Lina folded her arms, smirking lightly. "Oooh, look! It's Amelia and Zel!" Now, being loud as she usually is, she waved her arms in the air enthusiastically in order to gain mostly Amelia's attention. "Oiiii! AMELIAAA!"

Zelgadis visibly jumped at the familiar voice, spinning around to blink at her.  He was obviously nervous about being around so many people, staying near Amelia.

Amelia sweat dropped and turned around. Not that she needed to see who said that, she could recognize that voice anywhere. "Er, hello Lina-san...!"

A few people bumped and pushed the four, causing the gap between them to close as they were pushed until they stood in front of each other.

Lina was beginning to get somewhat annoyed because of the gargantuan throng, but she decided to ignore it briefly. "Heh, what are you two doing here--and together?"

Gourry wasn't paying much attention and gazed around boredly, it didn't really involve him.

Zelgadis had a blush go over the bridge of his nose, his eyes widening slightly as he began to stutter.  "A-ah, well.  A-amelia asked me to go... and, ehnnn..."  

Amelia crossed her arms and blushed. "What do you expect people to do at a fair? Play the games and get on the rides! I didn't want to go by myself so I asked Zelgadis-san to come with me..."

The people finally separated and went about to doing other things.

Lina examined them lazily, quirking a brow. "... Then why blush?"

Zelgadis' blush simply grew as he became more flustered at what Lina said.  "T-the way you put it sounded like you were suspecting something else!!!"  

Amelia looked off to the side for a distraction. She spotted a game with a large kiddy pool that had rubber duckies floating around in it. "Oh, I love that game!"

It got a little crowded, and then spaced out again, a few people buying some candy and other items.

Lina sweat dropped, folding her arms. "O... Kay. Whatever you two saaaay..."

Gourry tugged on Lina's sleeve. "Can we go and do something? I'm bored."

Zelgadis sighed heavily as he calmed down, his blush fading.  

Amelia waved before grabbing Zel's arm and dragging him towards the game she had pointed at earlier. "Bye Lina-san, Gourry-san!" She yelled as she ran off.

To the opposite side of the water game, was a painter, who had finished with a child, who looked like a clown. "Boooo!" He squealed as he chased a sibling. The woman then waited for more children or people to come.

Lina blinked. "They sure seemed in a hurry... anyway, you're right, Gourry." She yawned a little and began scanning the area for anything interesting that caught her attention. "Hm. Let's see... ooohhh..." She grinned upon noticing the painter, and then grabbed his arm. "Let's go get our faces paaainted!"

Gourry blinked, shrugging. "Er... alright, better than just standing."

Lina grinned and immediately dragged him towards the painter. "Yay!"

Gourry was dragged, again.

The painter perked up at their arrival, smiling politely. "Good evening." She paused, staring at Lina intently. "Aren't you that girl? Fiery Chaos? My daughter said you beat up these boys that were picking on everyone in grade school."

Lina chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Ehehe... yeah, that was me... ehehe. ... They deserved it Anyway! What kind of designs do you make?"

Gourry yawned, rubbing his eye a little.

The woman smiled, and shook her head. "I make anything, just tell me what you want."

Lina tapped her chin, wrinkling her nose. "I want--hm. Er... let's see. Wait a minute, I know this... hm... uh..."

Gourry simply stood there, blinking at them.

She blinked. "Is there a certain design you want?"

Lina frowned. "Not really... I just want something simple... got any examples?"

She started to pull out a few pieces of paper that have multiple shapes and animals, along with a flame and a jellyfish on the same piece of paper. "We have these, but I could make something up."

Lina grinned, eyeing the jellyfish one. "Hehe, I'll haaave... the jellyfish! On my cheek, too."

She nodded, and gazed to Gourry. "And what about him?"

Lina shrugged, nudging him lightly. "You gettin' something?"

Gourry blinked, shrugging. "Er... I dunno, what should I get?"

The lady eyed them, before looking down at the pieces of papers, scanning them.

Lina scratched the back of her head. "Whichever you like. Or just come up with one your own so she could draw it."

The woman tapped the flame. "Well, what about this?"

Lina blinked, yawning. "Hm, what'cha think, Gourry?"

Gourry nodded. "Er... yeah, sure."

The woman nodded. "All right, please, sit down." She said to Lina, getting out various colors of blue.

Lina plopped herself down, smiling widely like some excited little kid. "Yay, I haven't had this stuff done to me ever since I was little!"

The woman moved a hand to Lina's chin, and turned her head to the side, and dabbed her paintbrush into the darkest blue. "Hold still." And she traced the outline of the jellyfish on her cheek.

Lina remained still as the woman informed, closing an eye.  _Hm. That tickles…_

The woman then began to color it in.

Lina wiggled her nose boredly, eyeing her surroundings a bit.

The woman finished, and smiled, handing Lina a mirror. "Here you go, your Jellyfish is done."

Lina smirked. "This design reminds me perfectly of you, Gourry!"

Gourry blinked, "It does?"

The woman set that brush into a cup of water, taking a clean one. "His turn."

Lina moved off the seat, nodding. "Yuuup. You ARE practically -the- jellyfish brains, after all…"

Gourry sat down where she was, blinking. "Oh, yeah..."

The woman giggled slightly, wetting the brush and took a dark crimson color, tracing the flame on his cheek, and began speaking to Lina. "You two should try a few rides after this. Either that or go to one of the contests."

Lina nodded and watched as she drew the design, folding her arms. "Yeah... and, contests? What kind?"

The woman began putting on a different coat of red. "Well, in about fifteen minutes there will be an eating contest down this way."

Lina quirked a brow; the mention of the contest catching her interest, "What's the prize?"

She paused in her work, thinking back, before adding orange. "I think it's a TV. You know how it is, they can't get their hands on anything better."

Lina frowned, slumping. "Don't tell me. Is it another sucky thirteen-inch television?"

She shook her head. "No, I think it's a little bigger this year."

Lina blinked. "Oh? How many inches?"

She shrugged, finishing. "Not sure, you'll have to go and see for yourself."

Gourry stood up and stretched, yawning.

Lina nodded slowly, tilting her head to the side. "Yeah, I will! Hehe… I COULD use a television in my room, though. Thanks lady!" She immediately grasped Gourry's arm, giving the woman toothy grin. "Buh-bai!" And so, Lina quickly dragged him towards the direction of the contest.

Upon reaching, nine fat men were there, waiting. "We need one more person! Just one more person, and then we'll get this contest on! The rules are simple, eat as much as you can for twenty minutes, and whoever eats the most, wins!" Announced the man standing on the stage in front of the elongated table. "A seventy two inch TV, free of charge!"

Lina immediately emitted a squeal and released his arm, waving her arm above her head enthusiastically. "Ooh, oh! Pick me!"

Everyone's head turned, to stare at the diminutive girl. "Y-you, miss?" The announcer choked, how could -she- even eat half of what they're serving? "A-all right, if you want..."

Lina smirked, placing a hand on her hip. _This'll be SO easy... that TV is as good as mine..._ "Alright!" She quickly sauntered towards the table, quite mirthfully also. "Hehe..."

All nine fat men stared at her, and laughed, 'this will be easy' they changed aloud, and waited. The announcer had some women set food on their platters, and quickly shouted 'Start!' immediately.

Lina Inverse simply began devouring the food in front of her ravenously, and quite quickly too. Yup, her usual pig-routine was taking place.

The audience stared at Lina, as another course was set in front of them, etc, etc. The fat men never seen, as they were too busy eating their own, twenty minutes passed, and half of the men stopped. While the other's looked like they couldn't take another bite, but still continued. "Time's up!" The man yelled, after he ceased staring at Lina.

Lina did eat quite a lot, maybe a bit too much for someone with such a diminutive stature. She blinked, swallowing the remaining food that was in her mouth. "Already?"

The ladies returned, and took their platters to calculate, while the man walked over to Lina. "Say, little girl, how can you eat so much? Or are you really a boy?" That's definitely not a good thing to say...

Lina huffed, pounding her fists on the table. "Oi, I'm a GIRL! It's pretty obvious, y'know..." She huffed rather furiously, folding her arms. "And I'm just talented like that."

The man chuckled, and sat on the table. "Was your daddy a pig?" The audience laughed. "Sure seems like it!" More laughter. The girl's returned, giving the man a glare. "She won." One had said, her hands on her hips. "O-oh? S-she did?" He seemed shocked.

Lina closed an eye, her fingers beginning to twitch. She was attempting to hold back from casting one of her infamous spells, since she didn't want to cause severe panic. She just put up her 'adorable' little act, smiling a bit too sweetly. "Mister... shut the hell up."

The man ignored her completely. "Right! Let's give this -girl- her prize!" He handed Lina a piece of paper. "Write your address and name on it, and your TV will be sent tomorrow!"

Lina gave the man a rather menacing glare, snorting. "Give me a pen, you moron."

The man went about to talking about random stuff to the audience, while one of the girls's handed her a pen. "Here you go."

Lina grumbled and took the pen, muttering a quick thanks. She began to scribble the needed requirements, huffing. "That guy's gonna get shot...."

"We can only hope." Another girl murmured, taking the pen and paper when Lina was done. "You can go now, thank you."

Lina nodded and shot the man another venomous glower before sauntering back over to Gourry, muttering.

Gourry blinked at her. "At least you won?"

The man continued to ramble, and the audience laughed more, like morons.

Lina wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, but that guys a moron... pfft... he's lucky I ain't letting loose a fireball..."

Gourry nodded, yawning. "So... what now?"

Lina blinked repeatedly, gazing around. "Uh... I don't know... lessee..."

Just then... something big and yellow pads down the path. "Join in charity! Buy things! Party! Have fun!" It was a giant noodle, to be more precise, a noodle -mascot-.

Gourry twitched.

Lina sweat dropped massively, scratching her cheek. "Whoa... will you look at that..."

The noodle 'danced' over and glomped Lina. "Have fun! Buy things! Go on rides!" He then began to dance with Lina. "Eat! Buy more things! Join in Charity!"

Gourry twitched more.

Lina emitted a small yelped, her eyes reducing themselves to diminutive ruby dots. "You've gotta be kidding me...."

The noodle danced with her more. "Marry me! Have fun! I know a great place to go! Buy things! Join in Charity!"

Gourry just twitched, growling.

Lina just sweat dropped. This was too weird. "You can let me go now."

The noodle merely danced around with her more.

Gourry went over, grabbed Lina's hand, and dragged her away, twitching quite a lot.

Lina's dragged away for once.

To get his mind off the recent noodle events, Gourry took Lina on multiple rides, until it was getting late. Gourry drove her home, and stopped in front of her house. All was dark, so Luna's date must be going good.

Gourry sighed a little, slumping. "Well... er... we're back."

Lina leaned back against the seat, nodding. "Yuuup. We had a good time, though."

Gourry twitched. "Could've done without the noodle…"

Lina yawned a bit. "I have to admit that it was just plain creepy..."

Gourry grumbled. "Everything's against me... or at least noodles are."

Lina smirked, poking his arm. "Yup. I have to agree with you there."

Gourry blinked over at her, and whined a little. "They're trying to steal you…"

Lina rolled her eyes, placing her arms behind her head. "Oh yeah, they're trying to steal me to make me their beloved and worshipped queen... right."

Gourry twitched. "That's their plan..."

Lina snickered. "You actually believe that?"

Gourry just whined. "It's true..."

Lina patted his head, "Right, right. Whatever you say..."

Gourry slumped, grumbling. "They've been planning this for a long time…"

Lina shifted a little, resting the side of her head against his arm. "How long do you think, eh?"

Gourry sighed. "Since you started dreaming about them, way back then."

Lina smirked. "Ooh, I remember that... but it's nothing important. They're just noodles."

Gourry whined. "Noodles that will take over and make you their queen..."

Lina smacked her forehead. "You have such an imagination…"

Gourry slumped more. "Blah..."

Lina straightened herself, and opened the door. "I should get going..."

Gourry shifted a little, nodding.

Lina had leaned over, and gave his lips a kiss, which he returned, and then she stepped out. Giving him a diminutive nod, she retreated to the house, unlocked it, and walked in, shutting the door behind her. Gourry remained there for a moment, before sighing and leaving.

**Part Two.**

It had been a few weeks since school had started, and now was a lucky Friday. Surprisingly, the school had let the student's off for the fair that night, mainly because Filia wanted to spend more time annoying Val. Rezo knocked on Zel's door, and entered the dimly lit room. "Zel?" He muttered, his voice cracking slightly; Rezo wasn't getting better at all, perhaps worse, even. "Are you awake or asleep?"

Zelgadis was sitting up on his bed as he leaned against the wall, staring in front of himself boredly.  He noted Rezo's voice and frowned slightly, thinking to himself.  Is he still worried about if I hate him? I was hoping he would forget about that, but I guess that's hoping too much.  "I'm awake."  

Rezo limped over to the bed, and sat down. He had tripped once again on the stairs coming down from the shrine, and his ankle had swollen quite badly. Yet Rezo hadn't went to the doctors for months now, merely having his medication re-filled. "I see..." He sighed, and gazed off for a moment, his brown eyes glazing over. "Well, now... why don't you go out and have fun with your friends? The fair is starting at five..."

Zelgadis watched Rezo limp to the bed, frowning more.  Why does he have to be so STUBBORN!?  He knows he should go to the doctor or at least not walk around as much. _Perhaps I can just..._  "I don't like fairs that much, Rezo. It's too crowded." He said this slowly since he was watching Rezo's ankle.   

The old man waved his hand slightly, smiling. "I bet there's a certain someone who wouldn't mind going -with- you." He chuckled slightly, and reached over to pat Zel's shoulder. "But, first, let's go and clean up the shrine? It's been a week."

Zelgadis quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Rezo as the bridge of his nose turned a light pink color.  "Ehnnn, ahh. Er, okay." He looked away and coughed behind his hand slightly before he got off the bed quickly. 

Rezo stood up, and limped out. "Hurry up." Rezo took one of their usual brooms and went outside, heading to the stairs towards the Graywords' shrine.

Zelgadis noticed the limping again but didn't say anything, grabbing a broom and dustpan then following close behind him. 

And the sweeping began! Three hours later, now being twelve eighteen, Rezo got up from resting on a bench. "Zel?" He murmured, looking quite tired. "Go to the house and get us another bag; I forgot how many leaves fall."

Zelgadis nodded slowly.  "Alright." He leaned his broom on the wall and put down the dustpan, walking out of shrine and back to the house, putting his hands behind his head. 

But the time Zel got there, there was no bag's in sight. After ten minutes of searching, he finally found one, and before he was about to leave... the phone rang.

Zelgadis stopped and sweat dropped slightly, turning around and running back to the phone to pick it up.  "Graywords' residence, hello?"  

Amelia giggled about something, "Hello, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis blushed slightly, straightening a bit.  What was she giggling about?!  Better have not been him. "Eh, hello Amelia."

Amelia didn't giggle for that long. "You know the fair is in town, right, Zelgadis-san? Its always lots of fun, but I don't want to go by myself and I'm sure Lina-san would rather go with Gourry san... So would you like to come to the fair with me?"

Zelgadis' face turned red, grabbing onto the counter so he didn't fall down.  "A-ah, the fair?! But, uhm, w-well..."

Amelia rambled on, maybe from nervousness. "I usually go with daddy, but he's too busy to go this time. Besides, I'd rather go with you!"

Zelgadis turned an even deeper red as his mouth dropped slightly.  "W-with me?!"  His voice had gone a pitch higher, still hanging onto the counter.  

"Is something wrong Zelgadis-san? Your voice sounds a little odd... are you sick!?"

Zelgadis pulled himself to a better standing position, his voice remaining high.  "NO!  N-no I'm not sick!  I-it's just a-ah, um, Er... I..."  

Amelia paused, now she was just waiting for an answer to her question, since she hadn't received one yet.

Zelgadis swallowed and stared at the floor as he recovered his composure slightly.  "I... Er... I guess I can come..."

"Great! The limo will be outside your house to pick you up at five, okay?"

Zelgadis nodded even though he was on the phone.  "Alright." 

Amelia replied as cheerful as ever, with a hint of excitement, "Bye!" Then hung up.

Rezo stumbled into the house, looking exceedingly worried, and out of breath, having ran down the stairs and to the house when Zel hadn't returned for a while. "Zel? A-are you all right?"

Zelgadis was still blushing slightly as he looked over at Rezo while hanging up the phone.  "Huh? OH!  Ah, I'm sorry!  The phone rang right before I had a chance to leave... I... er, didn't mean to worry you at all..." He looked away for a moment before he picked up the bag from the counter.

Rezo emitted a sigh of relief, and limped to the couch. "Who was that?" He asked, sitting onto the couch, lifting his foot to rub the swollen ankle.

Zelgadis glanced to the ankle before he scratched his cheek with an index finger.  "It was Amelia.  She... asked me to go to the fair with her." 

Rezo chuckled, hiding the pain the ankle was causing from his face. "What time?"

Zelgadis blushed furiously at the fact Rezo was assuming he said yes even though he HAD said yes.  "She's picking me up at five..." 

Rezo sighed deeply, gazing over at Zel. "Seems pretty bad, doesn't it? The girlfriend picking up the boyfriend." He shook his head, and chuckled. "If you go out and start cleaning, you should have two hours of free-time before she comes, if you don't go slow. I think I'm going to take a nap."

Zelgadis Graywords blushed more, waving his hands in front of him quickly.  "S-she isn't my -girlfriend-, Rezo!  S-she...just wanted someone to go with..."

Rezo shook his head, and leaned back on the couch. "Right, whatever you say, Zelgadis. Go on out and start work. Tell me before you leave."

Zelgadis put his arms back to his sides, sighing heavily.  "Right, right..." He picked up the bag and began to go to the door before he stopped, glancing behind him back to Rezo.  "Uhm, Rezo? "  

Rezo lifted his head, curiously. "Yes?"

Zelgadis bit his lip for a second before continuing.  "Your ankle, you are going to go see a doctor about it, right?  Or perhaps something else to help it?"

He chuckled, smiling. "I'll soak it in some water when I take my nap."

Zelgadis nodded.  "Alright. " He turned and started back to the shrine with his bag.  

Two hours later, Zel finally finished, and upon returning, Rezo was asleep on the couch, his ankle set in a bowl of water, and as Rezo said, he had two hours left to himself before she'd come.

Zelgadis smiled slightly seeing Rezo had done as he said he would.  "Now what to do..." He muttered quietly, looking around.  He looked at his clothes and frowned, they -were- a bit dirty after he had done that work outside. He went into his room and changed his clothes to cleaner ones, then going to the mirror to brush his hair a bit.  It wasn't going to hurt if he at least tried to look a bit nice... 

And through Zel's open window was the one dog. She barked a few times, bouncing on her hind feet.

Zelgadis sweat dropped and sighed. "Be a bit more quiet, Rezo is sleeping." He put the brush down and went over to the window to pet her head.  "What do you want?  Some food? "

She barked more, attempting to climb through. She looked rather plump, a bit... too plump for a stray dog.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.  "Have you been being fed by the other neighbors too?  Or is Rezo just feeding you a lot. " He sighed and watched her for a bit, crossing his arms.  "I'm not going to help you get through the window so you better find out a way to get through yourself." 

She whined, and gave a 'snort', and moved back, before literally jumping through the window, and onto Zel. She gained quite a lot of weight, which made herself exceedingly heavy. She began to give Zel multiple kisses, breathing right on his nose.

Zelgadis irked and coughed a few times since he got most of the breath knocked out of him, moving his hands up to guard his face from her 'kisses'.  "Off!  OFF! You're HEAVY!"  

She whined and moved off him, her very large stomach shaking as she went. Zelgadis sat up and muttered about 'stupid dog slobbering all over him' as he wiped his face with his sleeve. 

Rezo stumbled in, blinking. "What was th-... Oh, she's back."

Zelgadis put his arm down and blinked at Rezo blankly before he seemed to panic slightly.  "AH!  I'm sorry I woke you up, Rezo!"  

Rezo shook his head as the fat dog walked over to him. He knelt and patted her on the head. "Oh, I see you've gained weight... or could you be pregnant?" He mused, smiling as she licked his cheek.

Zelgadis blinked then paled, his eye twitching slightly.  "You don't mean I'm going to have PUPPIES to jump on me TOO?!"

Rezo chuckled. "You can name the girl, I'm going to go finish my nap. I'll go to the doctor's later today, and then I'll pick up a collar for her. We'll get her license tomorrow, with her name. I'll pick you up at eleven thirty tonight, all right?"

Zelgadis blinked, "Where will she stay?"

Rezo smiled. "In your room, my room has too many valuable items. Hurry up and name her, so when I pick you up, you can tell me." He then departed.

Zelgadis got up and brushed himself off before glancing to the dog.  "A name, a name.  What should I call you..." He placed his thumb and index finger against his chin, thinking. 

She pranced around, her large tummy swaying from side to side as she did so. She sat, barked a few times, and repeated this process.

Zelgadis sat on his bed and watched, raising an eyebrow.  "I know what I should call you, -annoyance-. "  Sighed and leaned back slightly, using his elbows to prop himself up.  "Never had a pet before, need a name..."

She padded over to him, and sat her dark chocolate cranium on his knee, looking rather adorable.

Zelgadis smiled a bit and rubbed her head a bit, massaging her behind the ears. She yawned, and closed an eye, staring at him with one ear perked.

Zelgadis whined, shaking his head.  "I can't think of a name..." He smacked his forehead over and over again as he tried to think. She jumped onto his chest and sat on him again, barking. Her fur seemed to be swirling, some light brown was on her stomach, as if it were caramel.

Zelgadis twitched a bit but let her this time.  "I can always call you Chocolate... but that's a common name for brown dogs I bet. What about Candy?  Gah, I have to stop thinking of food names, I'll make myself hungry..." She barked, and licked his face a few times, lying on him and staring at him with large brown eyes, once more.

Zelgadis rubbed his face with his sleeve, muttering about dog slobber under his breath before looking at her again as he tried to think of a name.  "Snickers! Wait."  He shook his head growling a bit.  "Stupid, stupid candy names." She barked, and jumped up and down on his bed, until she collapsed onto her side and stretched, lounging.

Zelgadis blinked, raising an eyebrow.  "What, you like the name Snickers?" She nodded from her lying state, and yawned, her tail tapping against the blankets.

Zelgadis blinked then shrugged.  "Okay then, I'll get hungry but oh well."  He got off the bed and brushed himself off before he glanced at the clock in his room. It was only three, and the newly named Snickers fell asleep. An hour passed, and then more, until Zel heard the honk from a certain limo. Rezo was also asleep, but moved into his room this time.

Zelgadis had been reading a fiction book and was quite absorbed in it until he heard the honk, jumping and quickly putting the book down on the bed.  He went out of his room and opened the door, blinking outside.

Amelia hopped out of the limo, then began climbing the stairs that led towards Zel's house.  This took a while since there were quite a lot of stairs. When she got there she waved energetically, "Hi, Zelgadis-san! Are you ready to go?"

Zelgadis closed the door behind him quietly and blushed slightly.  "Yeah, I'm ready..." A few birds were in the small fountain, and the driver honked again, they were running a little late.

Amelia blinked at the fountain. She wondered if the birds were drowning or if it was just a birdbath. She was alerted out of her thoughts when she heard the driver honk. "We better go if we don't want to be late!" She began running down the stairs by two's. Zelgadis sweat dropped and followed her, not as fast as she was going though. 

When the two reached the fair, it wasn't crowded at all, until they reached the middle of it where they were caught up in a group. The two then heard Lina, Amelia sweat dropped and turned around. Not that she needed to see who said that, she could recognize that voice anywhere. "Er, hello Lina-san...!"

A few people bumped and pushed the four, causing the gap between them to close as they were pushed until they stood in front of each other.

"Heh, what are you two doing here--and together?"

Zelgadis had a blush go over the bridge of his nose, his eyes widening slightly as he began to stutter.  "A-ah, well. A-amelia asked me to go, and, ehnnn..."  

Amelia crossed her arms and blushed. "What do you expect people to do at a fair? Play the games and get on the rides! I didn't want to go by myself so I asked Zelgadis-san to come with me..." The people finally separated and went about to doing other things.

Lina quirked a brow, "... Then why blush?"

Zelgadis' blush simply grew as he became more flustered at what Lina said.  "T-the way you put it sounded like you were suspecting something else!!!"  

Amelia looked off to the side for a distraction. She spotted a game with a large kiddy pool that had rubber duckies floating around in it. "Oh, I love that game!"

It got a little crowded, and then spaced out again, a few people buying some candy and other items.

Lina sweat dropped, folding her arms. "O... kay. Whatever you two saaaay..."

Gourry tugged on Lina's sleeve. "Can we go and do something? I'm bored."

Zelgadis sighed heavily as he calmed down, his blush fading.  

Amelia waved before grabbing Zel's arm and dragging him towards the game she had pointed at earlier. "Bye Lina-san, Gourry-san!" She yelled as she ran off.

Amelia stopped in front of the kiddy pool full of rubber ducks. She reached in her purse and gave the person that was working the game a dollar. She looked around at the pool, then plucked a rubber duck and turned it over to look at the bottom of it.

The man reached up and took a peanut, and handed it to Amelia. "Here you go!"

Zelgadis sighed heavily as he watched Amelia.  Did Lina HAVE to bring up that him and Amelia had gone to the fair together?  She just wanted someone to go with, it wasn't anything special. He pushed the thought out of his mind and looked around boredly at all the other games.

Amelia sweat dropped, holding the peanut in front of her face. She wondered if it was even fresh. "Oh well..." She pouted a little, and then turned around. "Do you see any games you like, Zelgadis-san?"

A large bunny that was similar to the costume Zel had worn for that mansion was up on a rack on the game where you'd throw a ball and try to hit all the bottles down.

Zelgadis shook his head slowly.  "Not really..."

Amelia glanced around for another game until she spotted the bunny. "Oh, its so cute!" She practically squealed.

The man behind the counter chuckled at Amelia. "Just hit all the bottles and you can have the bunny for yourself. And it's not even ripped. I just got it today."

Zelgadis looked surprised for a minute looking from Amelia to the bunny before a small smirk appeared on his face.  He went over to the counter and took out a dollar.  "I'll try for it."

Amelia was looking at the bunny from in front of the counter with a small pout on her face. Amelia had bad coordination, so she wouldn't be able to hit all of them. It was about that time that Zel volunteered, "Oh, Thank you Zelgadis-san!"

The man gave Zel three balls, and stepped to the side. "If you hit them all with a single ball, we'll give you the bunny, and your dollar back. If you use more than one, we'll give you another prize."

Zelgadis nodded, still smirking a bit.  He put the other two down and squinted a bit, aiming before he drew his arm back and threw the ball at the bottles. Crash! Zel hit them all, gasp. The man clapped and gave Zel his dollar back, and reached up, taking the bunny from the rack and handed it to Amelia. "Good job! I bet your little lady will be very pleased." He laughed, winking at Amelia.

Amelia raised her fist into the air when the crash was heard. "Yatta!" She gratefully took the bunny, but blushed at the 'little lady' comment. She changed the subject, "I should name it..." She was suddenly reminded of the misadventure at the doll maker's mansion, which caused her to grin. "... Zelgabunny!"

Zelgadis had been smirking, his arms crossed after he took the dollar from the man.  He was feeling quite proud of himself even ignoring what the man said.  However, he quickly blushed and stared at Amelia, his eye twitching slightly when she announced her name for it.  "W-what?!"  

Amelia continued grinning to herself. "It reminded me of how you were dressed when we were in the doll maker's mansion!" She raised the bunny in front of Zel so he could get a better look at it. "Don't you see the resemblance?"

Zelgadis' face went deep red, turning his back to it.  "There is NO resemblance, what so ever!"

A child that went to Amelia's knees tugged on her pant leg, having large eyes. She sniffled and lifted up the ducky. "What is me supposed to do wit' this, miss?" She asked politely, her big sister had nothing to do with the game she just paid for it.

Amelia giggled, "Whatever you say, Zelgadis-san..." She looked down at the child, then at the ducky. "Oh! It's very simple. You show the number on the ducky to the person that runs the game. The number determines what kind of prize you get!"

Zelgadis looked behind him and blinked at the child.  He was bored again now; there wasn't much that he wanted to do at the fair. 

The child stared at the ducky. "Oh." She turned and gave the number five duck to the owner, who gave her a large dragon plushy. Over on the other side was the face painter, looking bored after she had finished with the other two.

Amelia smiled to herself, glad she had done some sort of good deed. She spotted the face painter, "Oh look Zelgadis-san! We can get our faces painted."

Zelgadis looked up at the face painter, frowning.  "Er, I don't really want my face painted but you can go ahead."

Amelia held the bunny in one arm then used the other to drag Zel towards the face painter. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

Zelgadis yelped slightly, walking quickly to avoid tripping.  "B-but I!" 

When they reached her, she was finishing up a child, and blinked at them. "Why, hello there."

Amelia stopped dragging him when they reached the face painter. She blinked up at him, "But what?"

Zelgadis sweat dropped as he straightened himself, glancing from the painter to Amelia.  "Ah, nothing."

She pulled out the three pieces of paper once more. "Which kind of design do you want, and who wants one?"

Amelia tapped her chin, "Hmm, I think I'll have.... a star!" She glanced at Zel, "What about you, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis shook his head.  "I don't really want a face painting."  

She shook her head and took Zel's hand, pulling him onto the seat. "Nonsense! Everyone likes a face painting! We'll give you the bunny!" She giggled, and set to painting a bunny, that looked just like the one in Amelia's arms, on his cheek.

Amelia giggled as well, "And we can name it Zelgabunny too!"

Zelgadis irked, blinking quickly but letting her, trying not to frown when Amelia said Zelgabunny so he wouldn't ruin it.  

When she finished it, she pulled Amelia onto the seat lightly, and began to paint a star on her cheek. "You're Mayor Philionel's daughter, aren't you?"

Amelia nodded, "Yes! How could you tell?"

Zelgadis was busy looking at the bunny on his cheek by a mirror, muttering softly to himself. 

She chuckled. "You look just like your daddy, cuter, though." She paused her work when Amelia nodded, then continued. "How is he? Still caught up in work?"

Amelia replied, sadly, "Yes he's been pretty busy lately. Do you know him?"

Zelgadis ignored the conversation and looked around the fair, seeing if there was any things that he should get ready to be 'dragged to' next. 

She smiled faintly. "I used to be his painter until I broke a vase, then I was fired, but not by him." She finished the star and cleaned the brush.

Amelia looked at the star in the mirror. "That's awful! Who fired you?"

Zelgadis glanced behind him at the two.  It seemed awkward to him that someone besides the mayor fired her if she was the -mayor's- painter. But, then again he wasn't that knowledgeable in those types of matters.

She waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. Just go have fun now!" She laughed, smiling.

Amelia waved to the painter lady. She glanced around the fair then at Zel, "Are there any rides you like, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis rubbed the back of his head while he started to look around for a clock of some kind.  "No. Any that you like?"  

A ways down could be seen the exceedingly large Ferris wheel, turning around as the colors on it flashed and made designs. It looked exceedingly tempting, and many couples were lining up. "This is the most romance-filled ride here! Bring your girlfriend and boyfriend!"

Amelia didn't hear whoever said that. She pointed towards the Ferris wheel, "We could ride that. It's slow, but you get a pretty view of the whole fair!"

Zelgadis blinked at the Ferris wheel, blushing slightly at what the guy said.  "Uhm, if you really want to..." The two got in line, and took about fifteen minutes for their turn. They got in one, and it slowly started to go, and right on the second turn, as they reached the top... the wheel stopped, as it usually does, but this time it remained there, longer than usual. The people began to yell about a malfunction.

Amelia looked out the window and enjoyed the view.  When the wheel stopped at first she didn't worry about it, since the Ferris wheel always stops at the top for a minute or two. That is, until she heard what the people were yelling. "Uh-Oh... how long do you think we'll be stuck up here?"

Zelgadis moaned and smacked his forehead.  "I don't know it could be a while.  They should make these stupid things better." He glanced out the window and sighed lightly.

Amelia sighed as she tried to find a bright side to the situation. "Well, at least the scenery is nice..." She pointed at the window where all the flashing lights of rides and all the people could be seen.

Zelgadis leaned against the seat, staring at the ceiling.  "I should take a nap..."

Amelia pouted, but decided to let him sleep. Of course after about a few minutes of silence she got bored with it, "Zelgadis-san... Why do you think we were all brought back to life?"

Zelgadis looked over to her before he thought about it, putting his index finger and thumb against his chin again.  "I dunno.  People get reincarnated.  It could just be that we were reincarnated, and got our memories back by sheer luck."  

Amelia sighed, "I guess so. But it's just strange that we all got reincarnated... Even Sylphiel-san! We all got reincarnated at the same time, most of us regained our memories and are even still able to cast magic! It's just... strange." She decided to move on to another question, "What do you plan to do in this life, now that you're a human?"

Zelgadis had been pondering over what she said before she asked the next question, his eyes widening slightly.  "I... Well, I don't know.  I can't do too much, since I'm still in school and all. I'll think about it more when I'm done with high school."

Amelia shifted the bunny so that she was holding it, but using it as pillow at the same time. "Even though things are easy now with all the technology, I miss the way things were before... We didn't have to wake up and do the same thing every day, with school I mean. And we could use magic freely. Even with all the mazoku and injustices, I still miss it." She sighed wistfully.

Zelgadis watched her, leaning against the seat more.  "It was a bit nicer back then, none of this nonsense homework and projects. I'm thinking of asking Rezo if I can go back to home schooling, but I don't want to bother him with it anymore." He looked away from her and up at the ceiling.  "However, I do not want it to go back to the way it was since I would probably be a chimera again if it ever did."

Amelia glanced out the window. "I'm not so sure if I would want to go back to being a princess. I mean, I love daddy and I would pretty much do anything for Seyruun, the duties were boring a lot of the time and traveling with you, Lina-san and Gourry-san was much more fun. I didn't have to worry about arranged marriages or anything."

Zelgadis blushed slightly at the comment about the marriages, looking back at her.  "I suppose it would be."

"... How is Rezo-san? He seemed to think that you hated him when I last saw him.  He's very different from the Rezo we fought. -Do- you hate him?"

Zelgadis tensed and looked away from her to the window.  "I don't really want to talk about Rezo..."

Amelia looked up and blinked at him, "What do you want to talk about then?"

Zelgadis blinked in surprised and looked back at her, he wasn't used to hearing that kind of question.  "What do I want to talk about?"  

Amelia nodded, "Yes. You usually don't talk much so what do you like to talk about?"

Zelgadis stared at her blankly, still confused.  "Uhm, nothing? Normally I just answer questions from people and point out observations, there isn't really anything I -like- to talk about..."  

"But wasn't that because you were a chimera, so you didn't want to be noticed and got used to not talking to people? That's what I always thought."

"I never talked much period, there was never a lot of people for me to really talk TO."

Suddenly, it started moving. Amelia jerked since the movement of the Ferris wheel was sudden to her. She looked out the window to see how close to the ground they were, then back at Zel. "Well, now that you're human you have no reason to be anti-social. So... I'm going to make sure you talk more!" As she said this she pointed one of her fingers and winked.

Zelgadis made a sound, surprised by the sudden movement then blushed when Amelia winked at him.  "Er..." It didn't take them long to reach the ground, and the people let them out, apologizing for how long it took.

Amelia climbed out of the cart, holding the bunny in one hand and stretching with the other. Her legs or arms had no doubt fallen asleep from that entire sitting.

Zelgadis got out after her, suddenly worried.  "Amelia, do you know what time it is?"

Amelia looked at her watch, "Eight, we still have a lot of time!"

Zelgadis sighed.  "Only eight?  What else -is- there to do?"

Amelia caught a few rides to go on, such as the teacup ride, and after letting Zel go to the bathroom; they grabbed a few snacks, and went on a few more rides until eleven. Zel and Amelia, now holding hands, and the entire place was pretty empty, headed back to the front where the limo was waiting.

Amelia swung her hand cheerfully at her side, which also caused her to swing Zel's hand. This seemed to make her happy. She pouted when she saw the limo in the distance, "Well, bye Zelgadis-san... I'll see you at school?"

Zelgadis was smiling slightly, watching her out of the corner of his eye and ignoring the fact she was swinging his arm.  "Yes, I'll see you Monday. Ah, Amelia?  B-before you go." A small blush crept over the bridge of his nose, his smile not leaving. The limo merely waited, and a few people passed, but only a few, which simply went into their cars and drove off.

Amelia blinked up at Zel, still holding his hand. "Hmm?"

Zelgadis tensed for a second before he drew her closer to him by her hand for a second, kissing her on the cheek lightly.  After he had done this he moved away from her, not letting go of her hand however as his blush grew noticeably.  "Ah, Goodnight."  

Amelia blushed, taking on a noticeably shocked expression. After the initial shock and embarrassment was over she let go of Zel's hand so she could grab his face and pull it closer since she couldn't reach it. She returned to kiss on the cheek, "Good night to you too, Zelgadis-san!"  

Zelgadis' whole face turned red, blinking quickly.  "Ahh..."  

Amelia waved, beaming as she did, then scurried off to the limo. When she entered, the limo drove off. Seven minutes later, Rezo pulled up in their old, dark blue van. Zelgadis, by that time he had recovered from the kiss, going to the van and opening the front door to get in. 

Rezo looked slightly out of it, in the back of the van was Snickers, who was eating some snacks. "I brought her with me. I got her some food and things for you to brush her and give her a bath... also took her to a vet. They said she's pregnant, due next month; day before Halloween." He chuckled. "Her name is?"

Zelgadis looked behind him at the dog after closing the door.  "I named her Snickers."  

Rezo nodded, "Good name." He chuckled, and started the car again, driving off.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five.

The weekend for the group had passed quickly, and Monday came. The school day passed exceedingly fast, and the group now stood outside under a large tree, beside the sidewalk. They all were basically waiting for the limo... as they had planned to go to Amelia's for the rest of the day. Just to hang out, really, when a girl grabbed Amelia and Lina and pulled them to the side. "HI!"

Lina blinked continuously, not really expecting that, which kind of ticked her off, "Naaani? What the heck was that about? Oi...!"

Amelia sweat dropped, but decided to remain polite. "Hello? Do you need help with something?"

Zelgadis had looked over to the girl who had pulled Lina and Amelia over, an eyebrow rose as he watched them.

Gourry put his hands behind his head, and yawned boredly.

The girl dragged them away some more, giggling stupidly. "Did you hear about the party?! It's on the Far East side of town! It's sooo cooool!" She squealed more, and a dark black van pulled up. Stepping out was Sylphiel and three other cheerleaders. Carefully, they came up, grabbed Zel and Gourry, and, putting clothes that were drenched in chloroform on their noses, then proceeded in dragging the two boys into the van, which drove off once the doors shut.

Lina stared blankly, "What the..." And the twitching began. "HELL?! Did they just--... oh TELL me they didn't do what I just think they did!" Lina emitted a snarl, her head growing quite massive.

Amelia began backing away a little; "We weren't planning on going to a party tonight..." She turned around and blinked when Lina started cursing, "What happened, Lina-san?"

The girl grinned, and ran, as if her life depended on it… Which it really _did_, "BYE!" She squeaked, and merely continued running. No one else seen what had happened, and if anyone did, they suspected it wasn't that big of a thing.

Lina snorted. "Oh, what, you can't figure it out yourself? Some preps just took those two and dragged them into a mentally scarring social activity! On other words... my dear friend..." Lina sneered sarcastically and placed a hand on her hip, turning her head to face Amelia, "They've been KIDNAPPED! And we can't let them get away with that, can we?" She temporarily neglected the fleeting girl and grabbed Amelia's arm, dragging her towards the road. Lina was a very possessive person, and she didn't necessarily appreciate some preppy cheerleaders practically kidnapping what predominantly belonged to _her_, "Plus... you're supposed to be an ally of justice. This, my friend, wasn't the way to justice. It's crime!"

Amelia allowed herself to be dragged off, delivering a Justice speech as she was. "You're right Lina-san! We can't just allow those evil hussies to kidnap Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san, then force seem to do something against their will! Not without punishment from the iron fists of Justice!"

There was no sign of the van at all, except for the mark on the road it made. That's when the limo pulled up, and the man jumped out, opening the door, breathlessly. "I-I'm sorry for being late! Your father had me go all over town for him!"

Lina blinked repeatedly and just allowed Amelia to handle the man. After all, it didn't concern her anyway. Lina took the opportunity to begin scanning the area, mainly examining the cars. "Hm..."

Amelia nodded, "It's alright, but we have to hurry! Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san were just kidnapped!" She pointed into the direction she thought the van had headed as she hopped into the limo. "That way!"

The limo driver nodded, and waited for Lina to get in, when he realized what Amelia said. "A kidnapping? Shouldn't we get the police?"

Lina had a certain sly expression as she neared the man, whispering into his ear, "This is a VERY serious case. If we contact the police to find them, who KNOWS what those barbarians may do to them! It's too risky to risk their lives like that, y'know… we can handle it. I... err... know kung fu."

Amelia sweat dropped. Well at least Lina was lying for a good cause. "Right! Hurry, they're getting away!"

The driver nodded, and simply shoved Lina into the car, and shut it behind her. He jumped into the drivers seat and started the way Amelia said. "I'm in a real chase! My dream's come true!" He laughed, going over the speed limit. "What did the vehicle they were driving look like?"

Lina began sweat dropping massively. "Uh… it's... a... b-black... van... yeah." _Thankfully, he doesn't drive as chaotically as Luna..._

Amelia nodded to what Lina said, since she didn't get a good look at the van herself.

He continued to drive, before he suddenly swerved to the side. "There's a black van!" And so he began to chase. Surprisingly, it WAS the van that had the cheerleaders and the two boys. They had to stop to get some clothes that fit the two. A cheerleader looked out the back window and squeaked. The van began to go faster.

Lina sat on her knees on the seat, leaning forward. "Chase them! CHASE THEM! Show them no mercy, dude-whose-name-I-don't-know-of!"

"They've seen us! Now the cowards are running, because they fear their Just punishment!"

The van went on the other side of the road, and went in front of a semi. Now, the limo couldn't do that, so he got frustrated, and started to honk. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU STUPID ASSHOLE! WE'RE IN A CHASE!" He hollered at the semi truck, which moved onto the next lane. He smirked and started to go at least 80 MPH. The van sped up once again.

Lina yelped a little and pushed herself back into the seat completely, her eyes widening. "O-okay... maybe you're getting a bit over your head..."

"Oh, I hope we don't get a ticket! They'd get even further ahead of us." Amelia murmured aloud.

They went like this for at least six miles, when suddenly... he pulled over to the side, and the limo stopped completely. "Shit..."

Lina blinked continuously as she tilted her head to the side, "Naaani?! Mister, why'd you stop!?"

Amelia thought the driver should adjust his language a little, but she realized this wasn't the time to discuss that. "Is there something wrong with the car?!"

The driver got out of the car. "I have no more gas, I should have put more in but I was all ready late... You two stay there. I have to go get someone to pick us up!" He said, as he quickly scampered off. They were parked beside a fast food place, and a few cars were there, but no one was by them.

Lina gritted her teeth and immediately got out of the limo, placing both hands on her hips. She turned around to face the vehicle, and she promptly kicked it. "Great, just GREAT! We don't have much tiiiime..." She slumped for a moment--until she suddenly brightened up considerably, a wide grin found on her face. "Amelia! We'll do my Master Plan!"

Amelia got out of the car. "We don't have time for someone to pick us up... Who knows what kind of awful things they could do to them by then! ...What plan, Lina-san?"

The cheerleaders pulled up, and opened the back of the van. All of them were giggling about how they got away; while two were making sure Gourry and Zel were dressed correctly. Sylphiel and another came over, and then another person put handcuffs on Gourry, and the other part on Sylphiel. The same was done with another cheerleader and Zel. Then they began to wake them up by patting their faces. "Wake up!"

Zelgadis made a sound as he began to wake up, jerking his head away from the pats.  "Agh, where..." He opened his eyes and blinked sleepily, looking around slowly before his eyes snapped wide open, yelping and trying to scramble away from the girls, however unable to because of the handcuff. 

Gourry just laid there, muttering and snoring, rolling onto his side.

Sylphiel tugged on Gourry, while the other girl pulled Zel out of the van. "Hi!" The others snatched their own partners and walked into the party, except for a few who waited.

Zelgadis pulled his hand back after he was pulled out of the van, trying to avoid being dragged.  "Where am I and why am I in these handcuffs?!"

Gourry snored and continued sleeping.

Sylphiel continued to tug, and a few others walked over, and grabbed Gourry, dragging him into the party with Sylphiel. The girl glomped Zel, "I love you! Let's go dance! I'm like... so good at dancing. Like, you know?"

Zelgadis turned pink on the bridge of his nose, blinking quickly at the sudden glomp.  "W-what?!  No!  I-I don't even -KNOW- you!"  

And Zel was merely dragged into the dance. Meanwhile, with Lina and Amelia....

Lina gazed around cautiously as she sneered, and began nearing a random car. "Awe, c'mon Amelia! If we were discrete, no one would know it was us! Besides..." Lina huffed as she twisted back around to face the younger girl, "It's not just to leave friends behind when they're in danger, is it?"

Amelia followed Lina, wringing her hands nervously. "I don't know Lina-san.... Well I suppose it's not unjust if we return the car right? Can you even drive Lina-san?"

Lina attempted to open the door, "Sure I do! I learned plenty from watching Luna drive!" ... And that itself wasn't a good thing.

Amelia looked around cautiously. "Maybe it would be safer just to Ray Wing? Maybe no one will see us..."

Lina actually succeeded in opening the door! Oh, this would be fun. "Too risky." She poked her head in, "Wonder if the keys are left behind..."

Amelia tried opening the other door. "Uhm Lina-san, we're going to return the car, right?"

Surprisingly, the keys were still in the ignition. Along with a purse, seems like the owner had to get out quickly.

Lina nodded quickly as she plopped herself down on the driver's seat. "Of course we are! Don't worry--not like anyone's gonna find out we're hijacking a car." Upon spotting the keys, Lina merely smirked. "Wow, this person must be DUMB... anyway, in Amelia!"

Amelia got in and made sure to put on her seat belt. It was Lina that was driving, who knows what would happen. "Well it's for Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san..."

Lina placed a hand on the steering wheel and quickly started the car, "Of course it is. We can't let our buds down, right?"

"Of course not! ... Lets just hope we don't get arrested in the process of saving them though..."

Lina smiled brightly, "Ahh, we won't. Now, how do you work this thing..." She fiddled around with a few controls and drove back a foot, then forward a little, then back again... and then forward, and then far back; where she accidentally knocked over a random trash can. "Woops..."

Amelia sweat dropped, "Lina-san hurry up! Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san could be out there suffering while we're trying to figure out how to work a stolen car!"

Lina sweat dropped also, continuing to tinker around with a few things until she finally got onto the road. "Right, right! I think I got this!!"

As the two drove off, a certain tall blonde woman walked out. Mrs. Gabriev gazed to where her car had been parked, and blinked. "... Where did my car go? I parked it there. Oh! I could have parked somewhere else!" So the woman began to look around the parking lot.

Amelia pouted, "We took so long, we don't even know which way they went now!"

Lina huffed a little and stepped on the gas firmly. "Damn... well then, we'll just drive around until we spot their van! Amelia, keep a look out. I'll be too busy trying not to make us crash!"

Amelia nodded, looking out the window for the van. "Lina-san do you think there's an actual party tonight or was it just a distraction?

Lina basically began swerving around all sloppily along the road, narrowly missing a few items. "WEEE--eh? Oh. Not sure, could be, could be not. Right now it's our only lead to them!"

On the side of the road, there was a sign: 'Country Club Party! Ends at 3:00 AM! Come and have fun!' The directions were under it.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun got slammed into the door whenever Lina swerved. She pointed at the sign, "Look! There's a good start!"

Lina blinked repeatedly, promptly heading towards the sign. "Let's check it out!" Poor Lina forgot to press on the brakes, though.

Amelia went saucer eyed, "Lina-san stop the car, stop the car!"

.... BAM! The poor sign never seen what hit it.

Lina stepped on the brakes when it was too late. "... Woops."

Amelia sighed, "Well what does it say?"

Lina Inverse blinked repeatedly. "I just killed a sign... uh, what were you saying, Amelia?"

"What does the sign say Lina-san? It might be the party they were talking about..."

"It said something about a party... let's go check if they're there!"

Someone ran behind the car, slamming his or her fist onto it. "HEY! THAT SIGN COST US THIRTY DOLLARS!"

Lina emitted a startled squeak, jumping up from her seat. "N-nani...?!"

"L-Lina-san maybe we should go before they find out the car isn't ours?"

"They don't need to find out! And if you keep talking like that, they WILL."

A few other people ran over and banged on the car, kicking it. "Get out so we can teach you a lesson, little witches!" They yelled, and one came up with a metal bar.

"Lina-san they're going to mess up the car! And when the owner finds out they're going to think it was us!"

Lina nodded quickly, gritting her teeth nervously, "A-ah... screw this! I'm getting out of here!" And so, Lina frantically began stepping on the gas again, driving off very quickly, "People are psychos… getting all hostile over some stupid sign..."

And, Lina ran over three guys. Two went under the car, while the other hit the window and over the car.

Amelia winced, "I hope we didn't kill them... Well we're doing all this to save Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san... I wonder, if you do bad things for a good reason does it make it Just?"

Lina twitched a bit. "If they're dead... well, I'm screwed... and… yes, I think. Even if it sounds twisted..."

The guys got up and limped away with the others, after they threw rocks at Lina and Amelia.

"Now what? Do we look for that country club party?"

Lina nodded slowly, going rather twisty on the road once again. "Damned people... MOVE... and yeah."

Amelia sighed loudly, "I wonder what kind of horrible things they've done to Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san by now?!" She blinked, a few times, "I need to stop hanging around Zelgadis-san so much, I'm thinking so negatively!"

Lina grinned slyly. "Not like you don't enjoy being around him though, riiight Amelia?"

The two reached a very dark, foggy, and abandoned road. They then reached a tree, and the car stopped.

Amelia blushed, but avoided the question. "Why did the car stop?"

Lina quirked a brow, "Don't know... maybe the gas ran out?"

The gas was, indeed empty. The radio randomly turned on and played soft songs.

Amelia was a little creped out by the radio. She glanced out the window for people, "Maybe we could Ray Wing now?"

Lina twitched, removing her hands away from the steering wheel. "Maybe..."

The music then suddenly went exceedingly loud.

Amelia covered her ears and wailed, "Lina-san, it's the car's way of getting revenge on us for taking it from its owner!"

Lina kicked the door open and immediately scrambled out of the car, "Or it could be something else... gah!"

And a very cold wind blew when Lina exited.

Amelia W scrambled out herself. "L-Lina-san maybe we should just go..."

Lina began scanning the environment cautiously. "Right..."

The radio suddenly shut itself off. A few movements in the darkness could be seen, and a snapping of a twig could be heard. Besides that, nothing else was there.

Amelia crossed her arms from the cold. She whipped her head around when she heard the twig snap. "Lina-san this is getting really creepy..."

Lina pressed her finger against her lips, narrowing her eyes. "Shh."

And everything went silent. It was exceedingly dark, the clouds hid the moon and stars, and the fog increased. Slowly, it began to sprinkle.

Amelia nodded, doing her best to remain silent. She couldn't help but be scared though. She kept reminding herself that she had her magic, even if she was out of practice.

Lina remained incredibly still with her finger continuing to be pressed against her lips softly. "Hm."

It was still rather quiet, until the sounds repeated themselves, and the radio came back on.

Amelia glanced around stiffly. The atmosphere certainly didn't help anything either. Slowly she found that her hands began shifting into a familiar position for casting a spell.

Lina slowly closed an eye, raising her head up a bit. "You can come out now." She wasn't necessarily certain that someone was actually there though; it was merely a small guess.

The noises stopped, but continued again, and the radio ceased once more. The wind blew, and a few leaves smacked Amelia in the face.

Amelia sweat dropped, and swatted the leaves out of her face.  This meant that her guard was down for the moment.

Lina hissed, grinding her teeth together. "Amelia... let's go."

And a stick was 'thrown' at the back of Lina's head.

Amelia nodded, beginning to follow Lina. She looked behind her suspiciously when the stick was 'thrown' at Lina.

Lina released a diminutive growl and immediately twisted around, her hands instinctively cupped together as an extremely familiar flicker of energy began generating within her grasp. "Fireball!"

There were screams and a few people were thrown onto the ground, charred. Others ran, hollering "A MONSTER!" while a few hid in the surrounding brush.

Amelia squeaked, "Lina-san this is bad! Really bad!"

Lina rapidly fell over in a comical manner. "Daaamniittt! What the heck was that about?! For I moment there, I thought they were something else..." She fumed furiously and jolted back onto her feet. "Amelia--this is our cue to run. And run like hell."

Amelia nodded then preceded to scram, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

Lina followed Amelia quickly, leaving behind a duplicate of the cloud dust. "Wait for me!"

By the time the two were out of breath, they could see flashing party lights, screams, laughter, hollers, and much, much more a few miles down the street. It was still dark, and there were no lights besides those of the Club.

Amelia bent over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She couldn't help but see the party lights. She paused to catch her breath longer, "Lina-san do you think they're there?"

Lina emitted a gargantuan sigh, scratching the back of her head. "Hopefully... or else, I'm going insane.... my feet STING..."

Suddenly, a car went past, almost hitting the two girls. But because it was dark, they couldn't see what type of car it was. And a random owl landed on Amelia's head.

Amelia was about to complain about how rude the drivers were when the owl landed on her head. A large sweat drop formed on her temple as she tried to swat the owl away.

Lina smacked her forehead, her shoulders slumping. "Oh geeze... that owl reminds me of the one that pooped on my bed..."

The owl jumped from Amelia's head to Lina, and began to peck the fiery-headed girl's head, a hoot escaping every once in a while.

Amelia stood up straight, pointing in the direction of the lights. "Well if Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san are there we'll find them!" And she began stomping in that direction.

Lina released a loud yelp and swatted at the owl, scampering after Amelia frantically. "Eek! A little help here...!"

And the owl flew off, after biting Lina's nose. Another car drove by, but it was a rather bright silver one.

Amelia blinked at the car, but since she didn't recognize it as the van she ignored it. "Maybe they can hear us if they're there?" She took in a deep breath and yelled in a voice typically used for making Justice speeches, "Zelgadis-saaaaan, Gourry-saaaaan?"

Lina allowed Amelia to do the yelling--she was too occupied in rubbing her poor, little abused nose. "Itai... stupid... owl..."

Nothing returned Amelia's call, except for more squeals and screams at the party.

"Well... it's pretty loud in there, maybe they didn't hear us and we should go in?"

Lina began storming over towards it, then. "Gee, don'tcha think that'd be a really GOOD idea, Amelia? Stupid owl... hurry up. I'll be tempted to use a Levitation..."

Amelia pouted slightly, but followed her. "I wonder how long it's been since they took them now?"

The closer they got, the louder the music was, the louder the music was, the louder the screams, yells, laughter, etc, etc, were.

Lina huffed. "Awhile. But they better thank us--we've been through hell to find them!"

Amelia's eyes grew wobbly and watery. "Oh Lina-san what if... What if one of those evil hussies got them drunk or something and made them do... stuff!"

Lina began twitching quite insanely. "Then what the heck are we waiting for?! Screw walking, we're RUNNING!" The fiery sorceress snatched Amelia's arm and began to quickly sprint towards the club, leaving the ever-so familiar dust cloud behind.

Amelia tried running herself, but with Lina's grip on her arm she ended up getting dragged in the dust cloud.

By the time the two girls got there, it wasn't as crowded as it had recently been. Upon entering the club, multiple guys began pointing at them, and whistling. "You two the new strippers?" They called out, pointing to their uniforms. Most of them were actually in their mid twenties.

Lina sweat dropped massively as she released Amelia's arm, taking a small step back. "S-strippers!? Of course not! We're too young...!"

Amelia stepped back as well. "No! Lina-san's right, we're too young! Get your mind out of the gutter!" She scooted back a little more and whispered to Lina, "Do you see Zelgadis-san or Gourry-san anywhere?"

One of the men rolled their eyes. "Listen here, missy, we're allowed to think that. You ARE in a club." Another man approached them, blinking. "Ignore them, can I help you? Are you looking for a brother or sister?"

Lina whispered back to Amelia, looking quite uncomfortable. "That'd be a negative..." Quirking a brow, Lina diverted her attention to new individual. "Brother or... sister? No, not really, we're looking for two friends of ours... ehe."

Amelia whispered back, "I don't even think those cheerleaders would bring Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san here..."

The man moved behind the girls, and pushed them forward. "Well, there's a LOT of teens out back." He grabbed their rears. "But it IS getting cold outside...."

Lina instinctively shrieked and twirled around. "SUKEBE! What the heck do you think you're doing touching us like that?!"

Amelia turned around and scooted back. She didn't like flaunting power, even in her past life but in these cases it was necessary. "M-My daddy is the mayor! That's harassment!"

He laughed and patted their heads. "You are babies! Here, I'll show you the way." He then grabbed their arms and lightly pulled them around a few chairs, and then through doors, where the pool and multiple teens were.

Lina began twitching out of sheer irritation, gritting her teeth. "I'd prefer it if you wouldn't touch me..." _What the heck did we get ourselves into...?!_

Amelia tried to remove her arm from his grasp. "I can walk myself!"

He released them, patted their heads, and walked away. And just at that moment... someone tackled Lina. Someone annoying. Someone that more than one person wishes to kill. Someone... ... who is drunk. "HI!"

Lina fell onto the ground roughly with a small 'oof'. "Itai... what the heck...?"

Amelia sweat dropped, "Maybe we should just leave... I really don't think they're here..."

The individual, who was wearing a black sheet over their head, giggled and hugged Lina. "Hi, hi, hiiii!"

Lina sweat dropped and began shoving the individual off. "Bugger off."

Amelia grabbed Lina's arm, trying to pull her out from under the person. The person bit Amelia's arm, while clinging to Lina with the other. And, someone with blonde hair shoved the individual off Lina, and helped her up, dusting her off. "Are you all right?" There was that fake 'I'm here to save you'-ish thing to his voice.

Lina had multiple sweat drops appear on the back of her head, her eyes reduced to diminutive crimson dots. ".... Nani?"

Amelia yelped and put a hand where she was bit.

The individual wrapped his arm around Lina's, and took her to a lighter area, and when he did so... it turned out to be none other than... Gourry's little brother. "I'm glad you're here." He grinned, still in that same tone. The guy that bit Amelia was curled up around her legs. "I love you, I love you, marry me, marry meeee!"

Lina appeared incredibly disappointed... and basically uninterested. She gave him a small glower, yawning, "Oh… it's you. I'm looking for someone. Don't have any time for you. Therefore, you can bugger--...do you by any chance know where your brother is?"

Amelia sweat dropped, "No! I don't even know you! Besides... I have a boyfriend!" Well she wasn't so sure about that last comment, but it'd probably get the guy to go away.

For a moment, he kept up the smile... and then everything broke, including his heart. His facial expression stayed the same, while his voice turned into a girly squeak. "'It's you'?" He squeaked. "I-I j-just saved y-your life!" He brought himself together, and pulled her close. "How about a smooch? Give me one and I'll tell you!" The man around Amelia stared up at her, well.... up her skirt. "Oooh, pretty."

Lina shoved a hand into his face, "Yuck! You must be kidding me. No, you did not save my life--I could've assisted myself alone, thank you very much. I wouldn't be surprised if you planned that whole thing... now, SHOO. I'll look for your brother by myself then."

Amelia had a rare, for her, vain appear throbbing on her temple.  It took a lot of her will power not to just visfarank the guy. Instead she kicked him rather hard while shouting, "Justice kick!"

The guy rolled away a little and wailed, while Gourry's brother glared at Lina. "He isn't here. And what do you see in him that I don't have?! He's stupid and I'm smart! I have all of his looks, and I'm WAY stronger than him! Mummy says I'll be a lot better than him one day!" He stomped a foot, glowering. "It isn't fair! I wouldn't care if he left and never came back! Then I could have you all to myself." He nodded, and began to 'plot'.

Lina simply stepped on his foot. "Try anything and I'll WRING your neck, is that clear?! Now... leave... me... ALONE. Is that such a difficult concept to comprehend? You tell me, you're supposedly the one with the brains, which I'm actually beginning to highly doubt. And that itself is a very sad and pathetic thing."

Amelia stomped off in Lina's direction. "Lina-san we should look somewhere else. I really don't think they're here."

Wincing, the teen leaned down, and stole a kiss from Lina, and then quickly ran before she could do anything. That's when a cheerleader walked by, not noticing the two girls.

Lina didn't notice them either; she was too busy spitting. "BLECH! I'm gonna get MONO thanks to him!!"

Amelia was still fuming over the drunken guy when she spotted the cheerleader. "Lina-san, look!" She whispered loudly, pointing in the cheerleader's direction.

Lina was whining about feeling as if she was violated... until she took notice of the cheerleader. "Why that little..." Huffing furiously, Lina wiped her mouth for the last time and practically tackled the cheerleader down.

The cheerleader screamed, and struggled. "HELP! I'M BEING ATTACKED!" She wailed, struggling.

Amelia pointed down at the cheerleader. "Just confess to your evil deeds and tell us where Zelgadis-san and Gourry-san are!"

Lina snorted and just pinned the little shank down, "Shaddup. You know something WE want to know, and you BETTER cooperate if you value that head resting on top of your shoulders."

The cheerleader paused in her screaming. "Oh... you mean the blond guy with the awesome tight ass and muscles, and the skinny, but cute reddish brown haired guy?"

Amelia's eyebrow seemed to twitch.  She continued to point at her, "Well, where are they?"

Lina hissed. "Yeah, that's them... just watch how you talk about them… BOTH are taken, mind you!"

She stared. "Certainly not by you two! You could do with a nice makeover, and put your hair up in some braids, and in better clothing, like a cheerleader's outfit! Oh, I know! Let's go to my house and I can give you two make over!"

"That's not the point! You still haven't answered our question! Where are they? If you keep avoiding the question like that it will only make your punishment worse!"

Lina lifted a clenched fist above the cheerleader's face, sneering down at her all scary like. "And trust me, your punishment is already pretty terrible."

She squeaked. "I don't know! The girls gave them something to make them all... drugged up, and then they said the party was too loud! Half of them left to somewhere quieter! I think they went to a park! But I don't know what park!"

Amelia twitched more visibly. "Drugged? Drugged!" She raised her twitching fist into the air, "If you've caused any kind of physical or mental damage to them... The heavens may forgive you but I, Amelia, will not!"

Lina huffed a bit. "Now, look. In this situation, there's no 'I think'. You either know or you don't know. You better choose one, and you better choose one now. You're fortunate I'm actually being PATIENT with you."

She wailed. "I don't know! I wasn't paying attention! I just seen them force them to drink it, and say they were leaving to some park, and then they left! I didn't drug them! It wasn't my idea! Most of the girls were paid to do so by some stupid blonde kid!"

Amelia shifted out of her Justice stance. "Well if they're hurt, don't think that you'll escape punishment. You're an accomplice!"

Lina released a mushroom shaped sigh and eventually released her, getting up. "Great... I can hurt Gourry's brother later. Best thing to do now is go find the park..."

Amelia nodded, "We just have to figure out where the closest park is..."

She wailed, and ran. "I didn't do a THING! I didn't take the money, you bitch!" She called back to Amelia. "YOU two should be punished for harassing someone who was INNOCENT!" She was then hidden by a group of people.

Amelia's fist twitched again as she began exiting the club. "Maybe we can find a map or something?"

Lina fumed. "Or maybe I can blow this nice little place up..."

As the two exited, a certain car pulled up. The tall, red robed priest stepped out, and eyed the two girls, worriedly. He recognized Amelia, but his brown eyes traveled to Lina. "And, you must be Lina Inverse, correct?"

Lina's eyes widened in mild astonishment, but nonetheless, she nodded slowly. _Rezo...?_

Amelia wondered if she should tell Rezo about Zel and Gourry being kidnapped... He'd probably call the police who aren't exactly what they needed... but they might later. "R-Rezo-san, what are you doing here?"

Rezo emitted a shuddering sigh, "I was called... by your father, Amelia. He said you and your friends didn't come back, and then he got a call from his driver who said he was chasing someone with you two girls... and he mentioned Zelgadis and your friend, Gourry. Once I heard that, I rushed to where he was, and followed the chaos that a hijacking brought. I came across the sign, read it, and came here. I seen the car, and knew you two girls must be here... Is he all right?"

Lina chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek. "Honestly... we just found out that both of them were kidnapped by cheerleaders! Funny how life is, huh? Ehe... ehehe..."

"One of the cheerleaders inside that club said that they took them to some park... And they might be drugged! We were on our way there to rescue them!"

Rezo was calm, and emitted a sigh, lifting a hand to clutch his chest. All this worrying was getting to him, until he heard that Zel might just be drugged. "Oh, good..."

Lina smiled brightly, saluting him. "Don't worry, mister! We got everything right under control! We got this far, and we sure won't stop until we find 'em."

"Uhm.. Rezo-san you wouldn't happen to know where the closet park is would you?"

He nodded. "Get into the car. I'll take you there. But when we get them, I -have- to take you home, Amelia. And I do believe Ms. Inverse was also called, Lina..." He paused, to chuckle. These names, these people, all brought the papers and notes he read about them, which were rather amusing, back to his mind. "Now, let's hurry… It's almost eleven."

Lina paled considerably. "R-right..."

Amelia began to get into the car. She blinked at Lina, "What's wrong?"

Lina shook her head quickly, waving her hands out in front of her frantically. "N-nothing... nothing! Let's just... get in!"

Rezo drove the two girls to the nearest park, and lets them out. "Hurry up." He merely murmured, and the girls quickly ran down the trail, when a sudden giggle could be heard to their right.

Amelia glanced back and forth as she walked down the trail. She stopped when she heard the giggle, "Lina-san did you hear that?"

Lina stopped also; diverting her gaze towards the direction the giggling came from. "Yeah, you bet I did..."

A drunken jock and cheerleader stumbled out of the darkness, almost running into a tree. "Let's go somewhere alooooone!" The cheerleader squealed, and they stumbled off.

Amelia frowned; people in this time were so irresponsible! She looked off in the direction they came from. "Should we look there?"

Lina sweat dropped a little and watched the ones she labeled as morons scamper off, nodding. "Yeah, they said they wanted to be alone. Obviously, where they were previously, they weren't alone."

There was sudden laughter, giggles, squeals, and drunken clanks of beer bottles. "Yeah!" A few jocks hollered, causing a couple of sleeping birds to awaken and fly to a quieter part.

Amelia started walking again.  At first she considered calling there names again to see if they were there. But for some reason she felt like she shouldn't let them know she was there, so she could catch them right in the middle of whatever bad things they were doing!

Lina walked beside Amelia, folding her arms across her chest. "People weren't as moronic as they are now in the past… ohh, how sad humanity has become…"

The two girls reached an opening where all the jocks and cheerleaders were drinking, yelling, or making out. Sylphiel was curled up on Gourry's lap, nuzzling her face into his chest, although her cheeks were engulfed in a larger bright tone. A cheerleader nudged her, handing her another cup, but she didn't accept. "Nooo... I wan' sleep..." She murmured, as the other girl on Zel was drinking rapidly, and pouring some all over his head. Both boys were drugged, unable to move, so they weren't handcuffed, surprisingly.

Amelia stopped once she reached the opening. After she had a good look at what was going on, she lowered her head a little so that her eyes were over shadowed by her bangs. Her fists twitched at her sides until she finally pointed at one of the cheerleaders and shouted, "Stop right there!"

Lina wasn't paying any particular attention to them, predominantly just Sylphiel and Gourry. Her face went blank, and rather pale... and she slowly began to twitch. Not only did witnessing how Sylphiel was positioned on him make her absolutely infuriated; the fact that Sylphiel would actually have the nerve to participate in such an immature act basically set her off also. "Damn straight, you better as HELL stop it right there and right NOW!"

Sylphiel, whom was utterly drunk because of her friends, didn't notice. She merely clung to Gourry and giggled childishly in her drunken state. The others, as they were all also drunk, ignored also. "Look! It's an elephant!" One yelled as they pointed at Lina. "Well, that looks like a.... a.... balloon!" Another said, directed at Amelia. Everyone began to laugh hysterically.

Amelia's fists began twitching once again. "Didn't you hear me!? I said stop right now! You've probably broken several laws, with kidnapping to top it off! If you don't want me to tell the mayor you better stop it RIGHT NOW!" Strangely, she left out the part that the mayor was her dad.

Lina 'politely' saluted them with the ever-so warming and welcoming middle finger as she stomped towards Sylphiel and Gourry's direction, cracking her fingers. "Amelia, let's get these two out so I can blow them all up sooner!"

Gourry's head was tilted to the side… some drool running down his chin, and he muttered a little, rather dazed.

Zelgadis had his eyes shut tightly from the drinks being poured on him, a small twitch emitting from his body from now and then.  He had opened his eyes slightly when hearing Amelia and Lina, the corner of his mouth twitching; _they're going to get it now..._

Sylphiel seemed to clutch Gourry's shirt tighter, hiccupping. A few of the cheerleaders blinked at Amelia. "Kidnapping? We kidnapped?" The entire group was so drunk that they couldn't even remember that morning. "We were told to party!" She pointed at some of the drinks. "Someone gave them to us and talked to a few other girls." The girl on Zel continued to pour, before shoving a bottle into his mouth. "DRINK!"

Amelia blinked at Lina when she mentioned blowing them up. She thought about it and realized that the people were so drunk they probably wouldn't even remember if they did blow them up, and if they did remember they would probably think it was a drunken dream. She didn't seem to hear what the cheerleaders had said. She just stomped over to where Zel was and tried shoving the cheerleading that was sitting on him, none too gently.

Lina grasped a handful of Sylphiel's pretty little tendrils and began yanking on it a bit too violently; this was going to be her way to forcefully remove her off him. "And here I thought you'd make a good nun!"

Sylphiel emitted a shriek, and was yanked off Gourry's lap. "Eeek!" The other cheerleader jumped up and smacked at Amelia with the beer bottle. "He's mine! I claimed him!" She pointed to Zel's open shirt, which had permanent marker and a heart. Inside the heart was the cheerleader's name and Zel's, with forever written under.

The beer bottle luckily didn't hit Amelia, because the cheerleader was so drunk that her aim was pretty off. She was pissed off nonetheless. By this point she was basically acting on instinct. She lunged at the girl and shouted, "Visfarank!" as she tried to punch her in the jaw.

Lina huffed furiously and released Sylphiel's hair after she succeeded in yanking her off his lap. She crouched down a little besides him and grabbed his arm, coiling it around her neck while her free arm was wrapped around his waist, "I should make him pay me for saving him..."

By this time, more of the drugs kicked in, and both boys fell into a nice little sleep. The cheerleader hit the ground after getting punched in the jaw, and crawled away. By this time, Rezo came limping into view, as all the cheerleaders and jocks scattered with their beer. He approached Zel and gazed down at him. "... At least they didn't hold him for ransom."

Amelia seemed to have calmed down now that she had gotten the rage out of her system by punching that cheerleader.  She kneeled next to Zel and glared at the markings on his chest for a moment before commenting. "I hope they don't get sick..."

Lina lifted herself up and brought him up with her, emitting a small grunt. Gourry wasn't necessarily the lightest person, and considering the fact that he was several inches taller than her didn't really help, "Hopefully not. And this better not happen again... this day sucked a bit TOO badly..."

Rezo kneeled as well, and picked Zel up like Lina did to Gourry, yet he had it rather easier. "Amelia, help Lina. I've got him." Then the towering man headed off with his grandson, slowly though so he wouldn't leave them behind, and he was rather old. "Come now."

Amelia nodded, then went over to help Lina by carrying Gourry's feet. "I guess the hang over they'll have tomorrow will be punishment enough..."

Lina began following Rezo, emitting an exasperated sigh. "Heck, not enough. What those girls did ticks me off, and if I see them again I'll..." The rest of her sentence came out as a mere murmur, basically since she didn't want Rezo hearing about how'd she inflict massive injury and damage to those girls with a rather catastrophic spell.

When they reached the car, Rezo opened the back door, and shoved Zel over onto the side. "Fill in beside him. I can only fit three behind, and one in front... So you two can pick."

Amelia frowned slightly. Not that those girls didn't deserve whatever Lina was planning to do to them, but things were different in this time.  You could probably go to jail just for injuring someone even if they deserved it. She was snapped out of her thoughts as Rezo spoke. "Lina-san do you want to sit in the back or the front?"

Lina shoved Gourry gently inside, gazing briefly at Amelia. "I'll sit in the back, you can have the front. That alright with you?"

Amelia nodded as she moved to the other side of the car to open the front door. If she turned around in her seat she could still see Zel because he would end up sitting behind her. "Should we take them both to Rezo-san's house and call Gourry-san's mother?"

Rezo shook his head, getting in. "No, you're going home first. I promised your father once I found you, I'd take you straight home. After that, I think it's best that Lina goes home too. I'll take the two boys back to my place. That's where his mother is waiting." Rezo then started the car, and waited for Lina.

Lina moved inside the car and shut the car door, her face losing its natural color a little. "R-right..." She gulped nervously, scratching her cheek. She was going to be in biiig trouble from coming home late, most likely.

"What's wrong Lina-san? You seem nervous. You should be glad, we got our revenge on those evil hussies... sort of!"

And so they drove off. Rezo stopped at the large mansion where everyone and their uncle were waiting for Amelia. Phil bounded over, snatched Amelia into a tight hug, and brought her quickly into the house, after allowing her time to say goodbye to Rezo and Lina. He then drove silently away, and ten minutes passed before they reached Lina's house. The living room light was the only thing on, and the silhouette of the evil sibling was in the doorway, waiting.

Lina immediately flinched and released a small whimper, gazing back towards Rezo. "Uhm… thanks for the drive back home...!" She opened the car door and hesitantly came out, gazing over her shoulder to take a quick glance at Gourry. _I'm... so dead._ She shut the door and began to slowly walk towards Luna, a small droplet of sweat trickling down her cheek. "Eh..."

Luna waited for Lina to enter, and shut the door behind her. When doing so, the light turned off... and the chaos began. Rezo stared, and chuckled as he listened to the crashing of multiple objects and screams. He gazed behind him at the two boys, before starting the car and headed to the shrine.

~ A/N: Well, I didn't get as many reviews as I wanted, but that's okay! And as a quick note, Chapter Six will be Amelia's and Zelgadis' first date, so no real LG in that chapter. ~


	6. Chapter Six

~ A/N: I didn't get many reviews for chapter five, so I'm HOPING I'll get more for six… So, here it is! The date of Zelgadis and Amelia! ~

Chapter Six: The Date From Hell.

It had been six days since the boy's abduction, and both were rather conked out for two days. They're better now, though. It was Thursday, a nice, easy afternoon. Amelia's father had to go back to Seyruun to do mayor work for a short time; he'd be back that Tuesday. Now, being alone, and unsure if she should call Lina or not, Amelia had been looking out the window when a group of cheerleaders passed by. "Did you hear about my date? I can't wait to go!" One squealed.

Amelia sighed, she felt rather lonely, and since now one was around to see it she allowed herself to be a little mope, rather than wearing her usual smile when she was sad. She blinked a few times upon hearing the cheerleader's comment. Those girls certainly seemed to be very fickle! It seemed as if they had a date every week! Speaking of dates, her and Zelgadis hadn't gone on a 'date' since they were at the fair. And she wasn't even sure Zel had considered it a date...

Thinking back to the past, she recalled that her and Zelgadis had gone on a few dates before. For a brief moment she thought that maybe he only went out with her because she was the only one that -would- go out with him. She shook her head quickly. What was wrong with her? She couldn't allow herself to think so negatively! She stood up and began marching towards the phone.

Amelia reached the phone, picked it up, and called the Graywords shrine. Picking up was the priest. "Graywords residence, Rezo speaking."

Amelia twisted the phone cord out of slight nervousness. "This is Amelia is..." She hesitated a moment before decided to leave out the -san.  After all this maybe she should begin calling him Zelgadis? "Zelgadis there?"

Rezo chuckled. "Yes, yes he is. One moment, miss." He cleared his throat and hollered; "ZELGADIS! A woman claiming you're the father of her child is on the phone!"

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!  D-don't joke like that, Rezo!" 

Amelia blushed a tad due to Rezo's comment.  The Rezo from this time was certainly different from the Rezo from the past. She merely sat and waited for Zel to answer the phone.

Rezo laughed. "It's Amelia. Come get it before a woman really does -claim- that you're the father of her children."

Zelgadis growled as he came out of the room, snatching the phone from Rezo.  "Hello, Amelia?" 

Amelia stopped fiddling with the phone cord. "Hi, Zelgadis-sa-!" She almost forgot to leave the -san off, she reminded herself. "Daddy is out for a few days, so would you like to go out somewhere?"

"Ah...Go out somewhere?  Where-...What kind of place did you have in mind?"

Amelia hadn't really considered -where- they would go. "Well... We could get something to eat. Or see a movie. Or we can just decide later. " She took in a breath, now was time to make her meaning clear! "...Like a date?"

Zelgadis made a soft noise at that, taking a moment before he answered.  "Well, if you... really want to, we could. I don't really have anything to do."

Amelia beamed; of course Zel wouldn't be able to tell over the phone. This wasn't as hard as she thought it would be! "Okay! How about tonight, and I'll pick you up at four?"

"Alright, sure."

Amelia was almost hopping up and down from excitement at this point. "Alright, the limo will pick you up! Bye, Zelgadis!" She remembered to leave the -san off this time.

"Erhm, I'll see you later then?  Bye."

Amelia hung up the phone, and quickly began planning things with her maids and driver. Everyone seemed to be happy that the mayor's daughter was getting out. It was now thirty minutes before four, and Amelia was on a stool, standing as one of her maids cut the dress so it'd be above her ankles, and wouldn't drag. "Your mother looked so beautiful in this, Amelia-san..."

Amelia beamed at her reflection in the mirror.  The dress reminded her of when she and the others were reunited for the first time before the battle with Dark Star. It looked similar to the dress she wore that day, except it was white and not so poofy. "Thank you, I love it!"

The woman giggled. "So… is this Zelgadis cute?" The maid teased, pinning the rest of the trimmings of the dress up. The woman stood and brought Amelia down, beginning to apply blush to her cheeks.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun tried to resist blushing, since it might affect the amount of make up the maid put on. "That's an opinion I suppose... But he's certainly very handsome to me!"

The maid then applied lipstick, and made sure Amelia's earrings were in correctly, not too tight, and not too loose. "You'll have to get me a picture of him." She finished, and ran a brush through Amelia's hair, adding in an exceedingly large ivory ribbon on the back of Amelia's head. "You look absolutely ravishing, Amelia-san!"

Amelia beamed for the millionth time this evening. She thought the make up might have been a tad too much, but that didn't matter. "Thank you!"

The maid nodded, and left. The driver took Amelia out fifteen minutes later, and started to drive to the shrine. By the time they arrived, as the driver went slowly, Amelia was a bit late when she made it up the steps. Upon reaching, exiting the house was Zel in a dark blue tuxedo, being pushed by Rezo. "Now, don't fuss, it fits you, that's all that matters."

Zelgadis was growling now and then as he was being pushed.  "Don't -fuss-!?  It's uncomfortable and it's way too formal!"

Amelia blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. "Zelgadis, you look so nice!" She glanced at her own outfit and realized that they were both dressed very formally, and that they still hadn't decided where they were going. "Oh! I heard about a restaurant that opened recently, I think its formal... It might be a little crowded if we don't have a reservation but it should still be nice!"

Rezo shoved Zel over to Amelia, but stepped in front of him to take her hand and kiss it gently. "My, my, Amelia, you look gorgeous. Are you -sure- you're going out with Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis hadn't seen Amelia before and was now peering around Rezo, wide-eyed as he stared at her, his mouth opened slightly.  "Dyya... Ahm... A restaurant?  Alright."  

Amelia giggled, both at Rezo's actions and at Zel's response, "Of course!" She waved to Rezo as she walked back to the limo, "Bye, Rezo-san!"

Rezo sighed, and patted Zel on the head. "You've got yourself quite a girl. Now hurry before you have to run after the limo."

Zelgadis didn't register the pat for a second, jerking his head away after a moment and using his hand to try and brush back his hair.  Unfortunately for him his hair still stuck up in it's normal way.  "Tch, I'll be blaming you if I have to do -any- 'chasing after the limo'." He then walked after Amelia to the limo.

Amelia stepped into the limo and scooted over to make room for Zel. She immediately began striking up a conversation. "I wonder what kind of food they'll have?"

When they arrive at the place, it was, indeed, packed with people. The waiter came by, and eyed them. "Do you have a reservation?"

Zelgadis shifted a bit as he fiddled with the sleeve of his tux, his face paling a shade when he saw all the people.  "Uhm... No?"

Amelia glanced at Zel, noticing his nervousness. She patted him on the arm once. Then, she leaned a little to see behind the waiter at the table. "No, but..." She sighed, not only would she have to lie but also she would have to flaunt power! She never had to do this so much in the past. "My daddy, Mayor Philionel, was thinking of eating here sometime and asked me to try it out for him while I was here, and tell him about it!"

The waiter seemed unnerved, and led them to an empty table, handing them some menus. "Here you are, miss, sir."

Zelgadis sat down slowly and took the menu, flipping through it silently. 

Amelia sighed loudly as she sat down. "I hate having to lie like that! Well... I guess if I -do- tell daddy about the restaurant it won't be as bad..." She picked up her own menu and began skimming through it, "Hmm. Oh! No wait, maybe... no."

Zelgadis looked up from his menu, frowning slightly. "I'm sure it'll be ok, it isn't like you -aren't- the mayor's daughter, so you aren't lying on that.  You can't get in trouble by them." He looked back to his menu, hming lightly.  

Amelia put her menu down. "Right! And if I really -do- tell my daddy about the food here then it wouldn't be lying at all!" She picked up her menu and began flipping through it again. ~Oh, look how many types of chicken they have! No, I'm dressed too formal for that.~ "Hmm... I'll have a steak, a salad, and mashed potatoes. I hope they have rolls! And then desert!" Seems that she still had her appetite from her past life.

Zelgadis nodded lightly, then suddenly smirked as he looked up from his menu.  "You're going to have all that and nothing to drink?  As for me, I think I'll have some iced tea, a starting salad, and then... the snow crab legs."  He leaned back in the chair slightly as he folded the menu up and put it back on the table.  "And try not to eat to fast, this is a formal place." 

Amelia giggled a little, "I know that! Just because I got a lot doesn't mean I'm going to eat it like Lina-san!" She glanced at her menu once more then put it down. "And for a drink I'll have lemonade!"

Luckily, a waiter had been close by to both of them, and wrote down those quickly. "Right away, sir, ma'am." He quickly left, and about three minutes later, returned with the lemonade and iced tea.

Zelgadis took the tea and sipped it lightly before he started to mix some sugar into it.  "Just make sure she never comes here, in most formal places you can get kicked out if you are too rude or bother the customers."  

Amelia took a sip of her lemonade before setting the glass down. "Yea, Lina-san seems to have kept her appetite hasn't she? Gourry-san too, I guess that's one thing that -hasn't- changed." She gazed off to the sigh with a slightly somber expression from her last comment.

Zelgadis frowned as he stirred his tea, his voice lowering so that no one around them would be able to hear.  "Yes, a lot of things have changed haven't they?  Loads of new technology, the concept of magic is pretty much forgotten, not to mention most people don't simply travel around for any apparent reason anymore.  They would rather stay in their homes and get fat." He looked into his tea as he stopped stirring it, sighing slightly.  

Amelia sighed loudly, lowering her voice as well. "I don't even know if I can tell my daddy about it. He probably won't believe me and have me sent to a psychiatrist to 'help me. And if he did believe me I still wouldn't be able to cast magic freely in the house, with all the maids and butlers around…"

Zelgadis watched her for a moment before he leaned closer to her, taking her hand in his and looking up to her face with a sincere look. 

Amelia was still looking off to the side, but turned to look at Zel when he took her hand. Her cheeks gained a pink tint. Even if she missed the past, at least the date was going well! "Zelgadis..."

And, suddenly... a waiter with a tray and a big bucket of ice tripped over his own feet, and stumbled. He managed to keep himself up, before running into their table, and the bucket of ice flew... and landed on Amelia's head, the ice spilling all over her and into her dress. "Ah!"

Zelgadis yelped and let go of her hand, jerking away wide eyed, looking from the waiter, to Amelia, then back again quickly.  

Amelia made a sound that seemed to be a cross between a squeak and a scream when the ice hit her. The bucket had ended up like an over sized had, going down just over her eyes. She quickly removed it, but that only caused the ice cubes that were inside it to spill on her head and inside the top of her dress. "I-I have to go to the bathroom!" And with that she scurried off.

The waiter apologized repeatedly, picking up the stray cubes. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Zelgadis blinked a few more times before he stood up quickly, glaring at the waiter. "Watch where you're GOING!  What if you hurt her?! "  

The waiter wailed and fell to his knees. "I'M SORRY!"

Zelgadis crossed his arms and growled low, still glaring at the waiter. 

The waiter scrambled forward, and clung to Zel's feet, sobbing and wailing. "I'm sorryyyyy!"

Zelgadis calmed down and watched the waiter for a moment before he tched lightly.  "Get off the ground, I'm not going to hurt you."

Amelia stepped out of the bathroom. She calmed down now that she had removed the ice cubes from her hair and her dress. When she arrived at their table she sweat dropped at the sight of the waiter.

He wailed more, and scrambled to cling to Amelia's leg, and, for once, this man wasn't a pervert. "I'm so sorry!"

Zelgadis sighed heavily and started to clean up the melting ice cubes on the table, putting them back in the bucket.

Amelia's sweat drop remained. "That's okay, just see how our food is coming?"

He jumped up, grabbed the remaining ice cubes and bucket, and quickly ran off. Another waiter arrived and set their food in front of them.

Zelgadis sat back down in his seat, running his hand through his hair for a moment before he began to eat his salad quietly.  

Amelia sat down and straightened out her dress before she began digging in. She remembered what Zel said and tried to control how fast she ate, but when she ordered large amounts of food like this she just couldn't help eating a _little_ fast.

Zelgadis sweat dropped slightly at her, glancing around for a moment to see if anyone was staring at her.  He calmed down after a while and finished up his salad in time. 

Amelia paused her eating to swallow and daintily wipe her face with her napkin. Afterwards, in contrast to the polite gesture she just did she returned to digging in.

Zelgadis blushed slightly at Amelia's actions, but resisted a snicker all the same.  He looked to his crab legs and started to open them as quietly as possible, but trying to be quick about it so Amelia wouldn't have to wait for him.

Amelia had almost finished her meal by now. A few bites later and she was done. She sighed loudly, "The food here is really good, even if the service is a little bad. I should tell daddy about it." She sat still a moment to digest then said, "I wonder what the have for dessert!"

Zelgadis was still finishing up the rest of his meal, sighing contently.  "It is good... I don't think I'll have any dessert though, you can have some if you like."

Amelia made an 'hmm' sound as she though about what to have for dessert. "Actually, I don't think I'll have dessert... Like you said, most people don't understand traveling for no reason.  So I might not be able to walk around like I used to burn off the calories!" She giggled a little at that.

Zelgadis blinked in surprise then chuckled quietly.  "I suppose you're right."  He finished up his own meal then leaned against the chair, sipping the remains of his tea as he waited.  

Amelia and Zelgadis both stood up and stretched after a little bit. She took his hand, and led him out, after leaving the tip, and also paying for it. Upon exiting, the limo was clearly nowhere in sight. The two shrug, and just merely walk off.

Amelia continued to hold his hand as she walked along. She looked up at the sky and sighed wistfully.  "Zelgadis-san, do you think that if we find a spot with no one around we'd be able to fly for a little bit?"

Zelgadis forced himself to relax a bit, looking out to where they were walking.  "Doubtful.  I'm sure someone would see us if we flew, there aren't many spots where people -aren't-." 

The two continued to walk, and come up to a bridge. The sun began to set, rather beautifully as well.

Amelia sighed wistfully. Her eyes seemed to have gained a slight sparkle. As much as wished she could be allowed to fly in that sunset, but knew she couldn't, she still thought it was a nice sight. She suddenly became aware of the fact that she was cold. Well with the sun setting that would probably explain the lose of heat... Maybe she still had an ice cube in her dress somewhere. She didn't seem to notice that she had shivered. She just kept her gaze on the sunset.

Zelgadis was watching the sunset with a blank expression before Amelia's shiver caught his attention, looking to her.  He hned and removed his hand from hers, taking off the coat part of his tuxedo and placing it around her shoulders hesitantly.  "There..." He slowly went back next to her, moving his arm around her gently.  

Amelia blinked and looked to Zel when she felt the jacket on her shoulders. She sighed contently and leaned into Zel when he moved his arm around her. Besides the whole ice cube incident this date seemed to be going perfectly! She looked back to the sunset but seemed to be looking back at Zel more often than the sunset.

Zelgadis' expression had softened at this point, watching the sunset with a slight smile, which is until he looked to Amelia at one of the times she looked to him.  He blinked a few times at her before his smile returned, gazing at her. 

Amelia blushed a little when he caught her looking at him. She put on an innocent smile to hide her blush. She turned to face him completely. Her eyes closed as she stood on her toes, hoping he got the idea.

Zelgadis moved to face her as well, placing his hands on her shoulders lightly as he bent down slightly, his own eyes closing.

And, they got closer, closer, and closer... and oh so close, their lips almost touching... When, as L-sama had it, some random individual came by, and shoved the two on accident, continuing to walk on. The two were close to the side, and were shoved over the railing and into the water. This date really isn't going so well, is it?

Amelia didn't seem to realize what had happened until she hit the water. She went under the water and stayed under for a long moment before her head came back into view, sputtering and coughing some water. She tried desperately to tread water, despite the weight of her dress and Zel's jacket pulling her down, while she looked to see if Zel had surfaced.

Zelgadis had indeed already surfaced, and was shaking his fist after whomever it was that had pushed them off the side.  "WILL YOU BASTARDS WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING ALREADY?!  JEEZE!"  He finally stopped ranting and looked to Amelia, a light pink tinge going over the bridge of his nose.  "Ahm... I mean..." Zel now gained a sweat drop, coughing politely behind his hand.  

Amelia figured that Zel was just blushing because they almost kissed he was always easily embarrassed. She coughed a few more times, then glanced back and forth to make sure no one saw. She hovered just above the water with a levitation spell. She looked back to Zel, about to ask him if he was coming. That is of course until she remembered that her dress was white... and after the large amounts of water she had been dropped into it was very much see through.

Zelgadis' previous pink tint turned to deep red, staring at her wide eyed before he quickly turned himself around in the water, almost re-sinking. Amelia blushed, and promptly made a squeak sound as quickly crossed her arms over her chest. She looked back to the water and spotted Zel's now sopping wet Tuxedo coat. She quickly put it on despite the fact that it only made her wet, "L-Lets go!"

Zelgadis wasted no time in complying, getting out of the water and keeping his eyes on the ground, trying not to look at her.  

Amelia got back to the road with the same levitation spell. Normally she would rant about how rude it was for people to just push other people over bridges like that. They could have died! But... she didn't feel like doing elaborate poses at the moment.

Zelgadis simply walked toward the road, biting his lip and keeping his eyes fixated on the ground at all times. As they were walking, Zel walked under a street light, and a bird that was on it, turned, and released what it needed to, crapping on Zel's head.

Amelia glanced at herself to make sure the coat completely covered the most important areas. "I guess we'll just go home... You can walk me to my house. And you can look at me now if you want." She looked up just to see the bird crap on Zel head and she couldn't help but giggle.

Zelgadis twitched slightly, a growl emitting from him as he removed one of those nifty handkerchiefs from his pocket... unfortunately it was soaked, but he used it anyway and cleaned his hair. By now, the sun had completely set, and they continued to walk, they make it about a block before something else bad happens. They take a turn at a cross walk, but one of the sewer holes had been open, and Zel managed to fall into it.

Amelia blinked a few times, in case she wasn't seeing straight, because Zel had apparently just disappeared. She looked back and forth, "Zelgadis-san?" Then she looked down and spotted the hole. She held her nose as she said, "Zelgadis-san, are you down there?"

Zelgadis released a yelp when he fell it, creating quite a splash.  After a silent moment he resurfaced and let out an, erhm, string of words that should not be repeated.  After he was done ranting he levitated out of the sewer hole, growling.   

Amelia continued to hold her nose, "Zelgadis-san you might want to... I mean, you smell kind of..."

Zelgadis Graywords hissed slightly. "What am I supposed to do about it?! I don't have anything even somewhat dry now!"  

Amelia released a mushroom shaped sigh. "That makes two of us..." She fished around in her soggy purse and pulled out a damp napkin from the restaurant. "Oh! It must have fallen in my purse..." She held up the napkin and stood on her toes to reach him. "Here, let me." And she proceeded to wipe the sewer slime off his face.

Zelgadis made a noise but let her, staying very still until he felt something around the back of his shoulder.  He looked over to his shoulder then suddenly let out a yelp, jumping back from Amelia and swatting at his shoulder quickly.  A rat falls off his shoulder...and runs back into the sewer hole.  

"STUPID FREAKIN'..."  

Amelia resists the urge to say, "Eww!" It seemed this date wasn't going out as perfectly as she thought it was... So, the two sadly continue on, and after an hour of walking, finally reach Amelia's house. They stand under a light, and gaze at the house, before each other.

Zelgadis was dry at this time, relaxing slightly as he smiled to her. 

Amelia's outfit was dry for the most part by now.  She removed Zel's jacket and held it out to him, smiling as she did. She glanced at the window, but remembered that her daddy still wasn't there... So he wouldn't come bursting out of the house shouting something like, "How dare you take advantage of my darling daughter!" As she remembered that she took a step closer to Zel.

Zelgadis figured nothing seriously bad could happen here, in front of the house... He moved closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her.  

Amelia closed her eyes and stood on her toes to reach him like before. She initiated the kiss this time, for that something would happen like last time before they could kiss. Now if she just ignored the lingering sewer smell, nothing else could possibly go wrong!

Zelgadis pressed his lips against hers, holding her close.  Finally, nothing was going to go wrong, at all.  

Oh, how wrong they were. When their lips met, it was good for a moment, until the streetlight they were under blew up. Sparks went everywhere, landing on Zel's hair, and Amelia's dress, catching on fire instantly. Poor them... their date turned out to be hell, no. It was, indeed…

**The Date From Hell.**

~ A/N: Well, this took me a while as I was lazy to finish it, but it's done now! The next chapter will be another short one, the gang all meet a certain ryuuzoku, in a most unique way. ~


	7. Chapter Seven

~ A/N: Gomen for how long this one took! It being so small and all. Things came up, like exiting exams and then the SAT's... I've been really busy lately. Give or take a few days and chapter eight will be up. Also, this chapter is dedicated to my friend, Sami, for reasons she all ready knows. Enjoy! ~

Chapter Seven.

Monday, the week after the Date from Hell, Lina and Amelia had been partnered for a project, yet, at Lina's house, they didn't have all the supplies. The -only- way they seemed to be able to finish the project was to go to the nearest store, which was down the street.

Lina slumped in her seat and slammed her head against the kitchen table, emitting an exasperated sigh. This was boring. Projects bored her. But damn, she still had to go through with it. "Store, here we come..." She paused for a moment and blinked, "Oi... maybe we can buy some candy while we're there, too!" ... By 'some', she practically implied every candy item in the store itself.

Amelia shrugged as she stood up, "Well it's not so bad, we'll get exercise! Oh, candy would give us more energy to work on the project..."

Luna had suddenly appeared in the kitchen. "Lina! While you're there, get us this." She handed Lina an exceedingly long list, along with fifty dollars. "And don't you dare spend that on anything else." She hissed, and went back to her room. The store, which she worked at, was still under inspection for where the poison had come from, so Luna only worked mornings now.

Lina lifted her head up and grasped the items, sweat dropping massively. "Great..." Her shoulders slumped as she examined the list briefly--but quickly, her gaze was diverted to the money, and then to Amelia. "Oi..." Lina smirked that smirk that wasn't always the best smirk in the world--the smirk that implied that she was smirking for something that was worth smirking for. "... Ne, Ameliaa! Think you can show off that you're the mayor's daughter so we can get this stuff for free? I'll save the money... for... something else. Yep."

Amelia sweat dropped as she glanced at the list; "Can you buy all that for only fifty dolla-" She stopped as she heard what Lina said. "Absolutely not, Lina-san! It's not the same as it used to be, just because my daddy is the mayor doesn't mean he's -that- rich. Besides, I don't think I could get a discount for that, and it's not just anyway!"

Lina huffed childishly and moved off her seat, "Awe, c'mon Amelia! Just this once... I need the money for something!!" She said this with a frown, attempting to look genuinely honest. Though, she wasn't--this was the perfect opportunity to keep this money and she really didn't want to waste it. Money was money... and money for her equaled true love. "Pleaaase?!"

Amelia crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. "Imagine how unfair it would be to everyone else! They have to work hard to earn the money to buy stuff from the store, and then we get some stuff for free just because my daddy has a certain job? And I don't think it qualifies for a discount!"

Lina twitched. _Damn... this isn't working..._ She decided to try her trump card, simply hoping Amelia could not resist. Lina placed the money and list onto the table and clasped her hands together and stood in front of the shorter girl, her eyes becoming voluminous and watery. "Oh please, Amelia! It's for Gourry!"

Amelia's posture became a little less stiff, but she gave Lina a wary look. "What do you need for Gourry-san?"

Lina began 'sniffling' as she pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, twirling around in a dramatic pose where her back faced Amelia. "It's been sooo long since I've got him something! Ever since that incident with Xelloss... I just want to give him something special! Something to make him know how much I loooove hiiim...!!" Of course, while saying this, she was getting quite crimson and twitchy, one of the reasons WHY she had turned around.

Amelia's eye became wobbly at the 'drama' of it all. "Well... In that case, Okay! If it's for the love of you and Gourry-san!"

Lina grinned briefly and 'fixed' her expression. She turned back around immediately with such an adorable, morose and grateful face as she grabbed Amelia's hands. "Oh, thank you Amelia! You don't know how much it means for the both of us!!"

Amelia beamed, "Well I am a champion of love and justice! Now lets go, before the store closes!"

And so, the two finally got out of the house, and headed down. It took them about thirty minutes to reach the store and when they entered it was rather empty.

Lina sneered to herself, placing a hand on her hip. "Empty store means no line at the cash register! And that means... there's gonna be more candy than there is when the place is packed... heheheee."

Amelia sweat dropped, "Lina-san are you going to get -anything- on Luna-san's list?"

Lina Inverse blinked innocently. "Of course. If I don't... well, I'm losing a limb."

There seemed to be some kind of shuffling in the nearest isle, which happened to be the candy section, yet the couldn't see clearly.

Amelia stepped into the isle but looked behind her at Lina. "What else do we need to get besides the candy?"

Lina shrugged, shoving the list in her pocket. "Ahh, don't worry. We'll get it--..." Upon hearing the noises from the section... she twitched. "Someone's... stealing my candy... THIS MEANS WAR!"

The individual continued to shuffle, murmuring aloud to themselves as the snatched random items and shoved it into their halfway full cart of food.

Amelia put her hands up, trying to calm Lina. "Lina-san they can't possibly take all the candy!" She turned around to enter the isle. She stopped to blink at the individual.

Lina snorted. "They better. Because that's what I'M gonna do!" And so, the temperamental redhead began storming over towards the individual. "Oi..."

The individual continued on towards them, and when they got close enough, they merely shoved Amelia and Lina onto their cart, continuing to grab snacks and put them on their laps. "I need some of this... this.... That, some more of that... couple of these... some of this... that... Lina, Amelia... This... th-..."

Amelia gained a large sweat drop when she was shoved onto the cart. "Wait! Who are you and how do you know our names!?"

Lina sweat dropped also, and simply attempted to stuff the small snacks into her pocket. "Uhm, yeah! What she said--who the hell are you?"

The man stood up straight, and took off the hood, and dusted himself off, along with smoothing back his hair. His facial expression clearly had wrinkles and other sorts to show his age, and he gazed down at the two girls, raising a bushy golden eyebrow. "I knew it."

Amelia stared at him while still sitting in the cart. She blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. "M-Milgasia-san!?"

Lina stared blankly and dropped a snack upon her lap, her eyes widening considerably. "Mil... gasia??"

Milgasia gazed at the snacks, and quickly snatched them off their laps, setting them behind the two girls. With that done, he helped them down, and gave a nod to them both.

Amelia continued to stare, "Milgasia-san?!" She repeated, then lowered her voice. "You're still alive!"

Lina tilted her head to the side, still a bit astonished. "We shouldn't be surprised... he IS a ryuuzoku, after all..." Blinking repeatedly, her lips then curled upward to form a grin. "Nice seeing you're still around though! I forgot all about you... ehe."

Milgasia stared at Amelia, and blinked. He shrugged it off, and gazed to Lina. "Which... is to be expected. But I still knew it was wrong that you all died." He murmured; a frown on his rather old face.

Amelia finally stopped staring. "I know... it's just a little weird seeing people from the past that aren't reincarnated..."

Lina wrinkled her nose and scratched the back of her head, shrugging her shoulders casually. "Hm. Guess you're right, Milgasia. I didn't die rich."

It was now Milgasia's turn to stare... at Lina, allowing a diminutive sweat drop to appear on the side of his cranium. He shook his head slowly, and just began grabbing a few more handfuls of different candies.

Amelia blinked, "Is that it? We're just going to say hi after hundreds of years then continue shopping!?"

Lina sweat dropped and grabbed Amelia's shoulder, squeezing it a bit tightly as she began twitching, muttering between clenched teeth. "Urusai... you KNOW it's not intelligent to speak rudely to a ryuuzoku...!" She cleared her throat and chuckled nervously, patting Amelia's back a bit too violently. "Ignore her! Anyway... Milgasia, can you answer me a question?"

Milgasia merely continued on grabbing some more snacks and putting them in his cart. "Hm?"

Amelia nearly fell over each time that Lina 'patted' her. "Gomen! I uhm... just think of Milgasia-san as more of a friend than a ryuuzoku!"

Lina simply placed Amelia in a headlock, beginning to give her multiple noogies. "Uhm... ever since I've gotten my memories back, something's really irked me... whatever happened to the trolls? Lesser demons? Elves? Ryuuzoku? Every other creature--and MAGIC?"

The ryuuzoku paused in his movements, and gazed at the two girls. He blinked a few times, and remained silent, as if gathering all of that knowledge that he hadn't thought of in quite a long time. "If you really wish to know... I suppose I'll tell you..." Again, he sweat dropped at them, stuffing the last of his items into the cart and began to push it away. "But not here, of course..."

Amelia tried to squirm free of Lina's grip. She stopped her squirming to ask, "Where? Oh Zelgadis and Gourry-san will want to know too..."

Lina released Amelia and followed him quickly. "Alright... where, though?"

He came up to the cash register, and watched as the man began to scan the items. "Somewhere away from people."

Amelia couldn't help but wonder if Milgasia had gone a little senile, he was being awfully vague...

Lina nodded slowly, temporarily neglecting the reason on why they have arrived at the store anyway. "Alright... but where ever we go, we need to pick up Gourry and Zel."

Milgasia bought all he had to, went out, followed by the two girls, and unloaded his items in the back of a car. He let them in, and got into the driver's seat, quickly beginning to drive off, when he gazed at them from his mirror. "Where do they live?"

"I'm not really sure where Gourry-san lives... Zelgadis-san lives at a shrine."

Lina simply pointed out instructions towards Gourry's household. "Oi, Amelia... do you think the guy's remember what happened with that one incident?"

Milgasia headed in that direction though he did began to snack on some random candy bar he had brought from the back.

"What incident, Lina-san? You mean the one with Gaav?"

Lina sweat dropped. "Nani? No. The Cheerleader incident." She scratched her cheek--and then noticed what Milgasia was munching on. "Mind sharing?" she asked ever so innocently, holding an opened hand out.

Milgasia seemed to... pout? He slowly reached in, and took out a candy bar, tossing it back at her, muttering as he continued nibbled on another candy bar.

Amelia sweat dropped at both of them. "Yes, I remember that! You know, they never did receive their fair punishment..."

Lina smiled childishly and immediately unwrapped the candy bar, munching on it mirthfully. "Ne, don't worry! I'm already coming up for some revenge..." And that, coming from her was definitely NOT a good thing... who the hell knows what she could be plotting?

Milgasia didn't bother asking, instead, he just pulled up alongside the house, gazing over at it. The car that Amelia and Lina stole was parked in the front, and two blondes were digging around in the soft soil of the garden. Gourry was wearing an old white shirt, with blue jeans, both ripped and rather dirty. His mother was in a summer-time dress with a hat on her head, working contently.

Amelia looked at the car, she couldn't help but think it bore an uncanny resemblance to the one they stole. She just stayed in the car, deciding to let Lina take care of getting Gourry.

Lina diverted her attention to the car--and suddenly froze in her position... staring, and staring blankly with skill. _Could that be... nah! No way... Gourry's mom would never be THAT stupid to leave her keys inside the car anyway!_ Oh, how she was wrong. She opened the car door quickly and scrambled out of the vehicle, nibbling on the candy bar. "Oiii, Gourry!"

Gourry didn't seem to hear, or notice and just continued what he was doing.

As luck would have it, sadly, Gourry's brother popped out of the car, and stared at Lina. "She came to be with me!" He squealed, and started running towards her... but tripped over a tree root. Gourry's mother stood up, and blinked at Lina. "Why, hello again, dear!"

Lina ignored the annoyance that was unfortunately Gourry's younger sibling and finished off her candy, waving over to the woman. "Oiiii!"

Gourry stood up and turned, blinking. "Lina?"

The woman was about to say something, when Milgasia interrupted. "Hurry up!" He didn't seem very happy being here.

Lina sweat dropped a little at Milgasia's holler. She gazed over her shoulder quickly, twitching. "Oi, calm down, will ya?!" Lina emitted an exasperated sigh and strolled over towards Gourry. "Yuup! I... neeeeeeed you to come with me somewhere."

Gourry just blinked. "Er... okay."

Gourry's mother went back to working on the garden. Gourry's little brother sat up and watched. "I'll get you one day, my pretty!" He had muttered to himself.

Lina was about to drag him off to the car, until she stopped herself, twitching. "'Scuse me for a moment..." she hissed a little and stomped towards his brother... and stepped on his head. "Go rot somewhere! ... I'm done." That was her little mini-revenge for that damned incident.

After the yelp from his brother, Lina grabbed Gourry and dragged him to the car. Milgasia then drove off and when they reached the shrine, stopped and shoved his sixth candy bar into his mouth. "Just grab and run." He muttered, still rather annoyed.

Amelia sweat dropped at Milgasia, how could he eat so much candy? She merely nodded and stepped out of the car. She then began the long process of walking up the stairs. Rezo and Zelgadis were in the shrine, and Rezo was lecturing about how to be a priest. Zelgadis was in the blue priest robes that his grandfather had got him a year ago.

Zelgadis was, surprisingly, listening to Rezo without being bored, his arms crossed and nodding once in a while. 

Amelia had made it up one set of stairs, then began walking across the yard only to encounter another set of stairs. It took a while before she finally made it to where Zel and Rezo were. "Uhm... Rezo-san, can Zelgadis-san come with me?"Rezo stopped, and blinked. "Eh? We're rather busy right now..."

Zelgadis looked behind him and blinked, raising an eyebrow at her. 

Amelia didn't know what to tell Rezo, he certainly wouldn't know who Milgasia was. "It's really important!"

Rezo shook his head, turning his back to them. "This is more important."

Zelgadis looked between to the two as they talked, sweat dropping slightly at the fact he hadn't even said anything. 

Amelia couldn't really think of a way to explain it... So she just edged towards Zel until she finally grabbed Zel by the arm and started running towards the car.

There was a yelp from Rezo, when he noticed his grandson was gone, Milgasia started up the car when he seen them coming, and when they got in, quickly drove off. The gang arrived at a cave, far off from the city, where he stopped and took them into it.

Lina made sure to stay close behind Milgasia, scrunching her nose. _I gotta go pee..._

Zelgadis had been fussing a lot, and generally complaining through the whole drive to himself. Now however, he was settling to simply being busy in keeping his robes clean while following. 

Amelia followed behind Zel. She glanced back and forth at the cave walls as she walked. "Sorry for taking you away from your lesson, but this is really important! I think..." She apologized for about the fifth time.

Gourry yawned, scratching the side of his head, with one hand stuffed into his pocket, gazing around.

Milgasia led them to a very large part of the cave, where a few stools were placed, along with a single bed, which he sat on as he slumped his shoulders. "Sit down." He ordered to the gang. "And if you touch and break anything..." He hesitated in finishing it, deciding to just give them all a glower instead.

Lina gulped nervously and complied with his demand. Of course, she HAD to... he WAS a golden ryuuzoku after all. She placed her hands on her lap, fidgeting uncomfortably for one reason or another_. Man. I really need to pee... _ "So... this... is where you live?"

Zelgadis tched lightly, glancing behind him to Amelia, "It better be." He retorted, before sitting down as told to near the back of the area, waiting boredly. 

Amelia sat down on one of the stools. "I'm sure Rezo-san will understand once you explain it to him!" She wasn't really afraid of Milgasia's threats, not that she intended to touch anything. Sure he was a golden ryuuzoku, but he was also their friend! ...Right?

Gourry plopped down beside Lina, blinking a few times.

Rubbing his head, Milgasia opened an eye and focused on Lina. "What would you like me to explain first?"

Lina ceased her fidgeting--for a moment, at least, and frowned. "Well... I'm curious. I mean... I KNOW the world wasn't as... human packed as it is now..." she blinked a few times, "And since your still here... gah, wait... just to make it simple... what happened to the mazoku? Elves? Trolls? Werewolves? Dragons? All of them?"

Zelgadis had been about to reply to Amelia, before Lina asked her question. Now he listened intently, wanting to know the answer to this as well. 

Amelia turned in her seat so she could see well. She was also curious about that.

Gourry leaned back after Lina asked, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. Might as well sleep, since he wasn't really interested in it, and usually these things take a long time.

Milgasia's eyebrow rose, before he nodded, and cleared his throat. "As you know, ever since the defeat of Hellmaster and Maryuu-ou, they have access to the outside world. After their deaths, the outside world and the usual subcontinent interacted quite a lot. New possibilities appeared because there were some valuable items and resources discovered from one another. Eventually, mankind began showing massive interest in the artificial technology of science, and began gradually neglecting the magic people have studied for so long.

"Other kingdoms, countries, states, dukedoms, etc, etc from the outside world were afraid of the destructive magic they were introduced to. In fear, they began to retaliate against the subcontinent and a war eventually broke out. Not everyone in the subcontinent could understand magic, and the ones that did fought back, but eventually lost when they were outnumbered by such an army." He paused.

Lina quirked a brow as her fidgeting returned slightly, straightening her position. "A war... Hm. Never heard about that... keep going."

Zelgadis merely nodded in agreement with Lina.

Amelia resisted the urge to say, "That's horrible!" She opted to just nod instead.

Milgasia continued, though he sweat dropped slightly at the snores emitting from Gourry. "Besides, they only have a certain level of magical capacity and can't keep on forever. The mazoku decided to keep out of it. They were completely amused about it, and didn't give a damn if the ningen race destroyed them. The ryuuzoku are neutral and decided to stay out of it; it wasn't their business.

"Though they'd only retaliate if the ningen tried anything against them, but the ryuuzoku made that clear. After centuries, the mythical creatures like elves, dwarfs, etc, etc isolated them on another half of the world to be separate from the new era. Though, ryuuzoku whom have the ability to take a perfect humanoid form do roam the half where the ningen inhabit, but they never would reveal their true form, since the ningen there would panic frantically." Again, he paused.

Lina emitted a soft sigh, "Well, that's logical." She shifted a little, "None of us could of expected everyone to become accustomed to magic... but..." Lina hesitated, folding her arms across her chest. "Why aren't the mazoku doing anything... y'know, destructive?"

Zelgadis had placed his hand on his forehead throughout the explanation, his head bent down slightly, listening silently. 

"... Do the humans know about the other half of the world??"

Milgasia shrugged to Amelia, and responded to Lina, after a thoughtful pause. "They haven't been spotted in years."

Lina Inverse nodded slowly and lowered her head for a moment, squirming in her seat. After a dramatic pause, she lifted her head with an exceedingly stern and determined expression. "One last question..."

Zelgadis sighed heavily, lowering his hand and looking up. 

Amelia looked towards Lina. If her expression was that serious then it must be something important!

Milgasia blinked at Lina. "Go ahead."

"... Can I go to the bathroom?"

Zelgadis made a choked noise, his eyes reducing to dots as he glared at Lina. 

Amelia paused, then fell onto the floor face first.

Milgasia copied Amelia.

Lina laughed nervously with a sweat drop, scratching the back of her head. "Aha! Ahaha... hah! Uhm... no, seriously... I... REALLY need to go..." And she continued squirming, blushing sheepishly.

Zelgadis continued to glare at her dully, his eyebrow twitching lightly.

Amelia twitched as she sat up.

Milgasia pushed himself up. "Go out of the cave and take a turn. There's bushes."

Lina hopped off the stool. "Hehe! Whoo, that's a reliever... thaaaank you!" She bowed respectively in front of the elder man and quickly sprinted off, leaving a dust cloud behind.

Zelgadis groaned lightly, smacking his forehead again.

When Lina found the bushes, a small squirrel was in the tree above her, and decided to follow, occasionally dropping something on or near her.

Lina began twitching. She wasn't immediately aware of what it was specifically, but she began growing quite irritated, annoyed and paranoid. "What the heck..."

The squirrel took a random acorn, and jumped onto a branch above Lina. However, the branch had been rather thin, and it snapped when it jumped and grabbed. The acorn fell and hit Lina on the head, while the squirrel managed to cling to another branch and hide.

Lina released a small, startled squeak; caressing her poor little head tenderly. "Oow... who the hell..." She emitted an inhuman snarl and gazed up, right at the squirrel.

The squirrel climbed onto higher branches, before slipping... falling... and landing on Lina's face.

Lina instinctively leaped back once the little critter came in contact with her face... but alas, she lost her balance and fell right on her back. "GYAH!"

The squirrel scrambled off her, and dove behind a bush, peeking out once it was calm.

Lina slowly pushed herself up, her face crimson in irritation. "Stupid... friggen'... squirrel..."

The squirrel's large sparkly eyes suddenly had hearts in them, as it's very small paws clasped together, and it's overly large head tilted to the side as it stared at Lina.

Lina stared.

The squirrel suddenly ran up to Lina and clung to her chest, canoodling her, squeaking all the while.

Lina sweat dropped massively and plucked the squirrel off her chest, staring at it with her eyes reduced to svelte lines. "... You GOTTA be kidding me."

The squirrel reached out to her, sniffling.

".... Shoo. I gotta pee."

... The squirrel's eyes brightened.

Lina placed the squirrel down and gradually stood up. "Shoo I say! Go back to wherever you came from."

It clung to her leg, looking up at her.

Lina began squirming. "GO! I really need to pee!"

The squirrel reluctantly let go and hurried off into the bushes.

Lina released a sigh of relief and scooted back a little. "Whooo..."

There was a few birds chirping, but besides that, absolute silence.

Lina hummed happily and began unbuttoning her pants. "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands! Whoo, whoo. If you're happy and you know it clap your hands..."

As Lina started to do her business, two large eyes spied on her from the bushes. There was a noise behind her, and then all went silent, including the birds.

Lina quickly finished nervously, buttoning her pants hurriedly. _No one better be watching.. or there will be HELL to pay... _

The squirrel ran forward and clung to Lina's leg again, squeaking like mad.

".... I was being spied on by a stupid SQUIRREL with the head twice the size of its BODY?!"

The squirrel climbed up her and perched itself onto her shoulder, applying squirrel kisses to her cheek. As that happened, another noise was heard directly in front of Lina.

Lina, this time, really didn't give a damn about the squirrel. She just diverted her attention right in front of her, "Wha?!"

Out of the large bushes came the familiar cheerleader who had started a fight with Lina on the first day of school. "They're all so CRAZY! I can get her expelled from school for being so insane!" She clicked play on the recorder, and then came the sound of Milgasia. "I can't waiiit!"

Lina blinked a few times dumbfounded momentarily. "What the..." And then came a snarl, "Oh... crap..."

The girl looked up and screeched at the sight of Lina, shoving the recorder back into her bag, and took off as fast as she could. The squirrel continued to cling and kiss Lina.

Lina smacked the squirrel away harshly with her hand, turning around to face the direction of the cave. "MINNA! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE!"

The squirrel, heart broken, ran home to its mammy. The group didn't come.

Lina didn't have the patience to await them. _Damn slow people..._ Cracking her knuckles, Lina furiously stomped in, her head large with her fangs showing. "ROAAAR!"

In the cave they all sat, Milgasia was looking quite annoyed, and stood up when he saw Lina.

Zelgadis irked and turned around, a large sweat drop forming. "Ehhh?"

Amelia turned around with a sweat drop of her own. "Lina-san, what's wrong?"

Lina continued stomping, causing little 'earthquakes.' "What's wrong?! WHAT'S WRONG?! Well, guess WHAT?!" ... There was a pause, and then steam flew out of her nose. "Those little... RETARDED IDIOTS recorded Milgasia here, telling us what happened! THAT'S what!"

Milgasia blinked a few times. "I haven't a clue of what you're talking about, but even if someone hears it, I don't think they'd be believed."

Zelgadis irked again before hearing Milgasia, nodding slowly. "Probably anyone it would be shown to would think it was a hoax of some kind." 

Amelia had backed up when Lina stomped forward. "Maybe... How did she find us hear anyway?"

Lina stomped over to an empty stool and picked it up over her head, aiming at Gourry... but not slamming it down. "I ain't taking any chances! Plus, this'll give me MORE of a reason to kill 'em!"

Zelgadis shook his head, sighing. "Which would get us in more trouble than anything."

Milgasia snatched the stool from Lina, glaring down at her. "This stool is very precious to me!" He hissed. Oh yes, very senile... "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I have something for you all."

Amelia nodded, "Zelgadis-san is right... But they still must be punished for what they have done! What?"

Lina blinked, freezing in her position all funny like. "Nani?"

Zelgadis blinked. "For us?"

He walked to the side of the cave, petting his stool. "Your weapons and old clothes."

~ A/N: In a day or so, chapter eight will be up. I know this is small... so I decided to fill up some more pages with answers to the reviews! Here goes!

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Airi-chan: It's in my job description to be evil to them! After all, what would Slayers be without harassing the characters? However... the main plot will not be revealed until later chapters. But that doesn't mean the fic will be boring! It'll just keep you on your toes because there will be multiple hints towards it... (This goes to every reader!) There's and equal amount of AZ as there is LG, but this fic is more on the LG side, since I'm that much of a fan, but there will still be a lot of AZ!

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Phizzy-chan: I don't think we'll name one of the puppies Phizzy, sorry! But thank you for offering! Well, it really depends on the player of my Zel in the fic. So... there could be a chance!

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Lina Gabriev: Like said earlier to Airi, the plot with Xelloss won't come up until later chapters, and you have a few more chapters to wait before any REAL LG is there... it's hurting me by making it so long!

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BlueJellyFish: You have a few more chapters to wait for more LG!

I think I answered everyone, if not, just ask again and I'll answer in chapter eight!

I should have done this before the story, but, eh... I'm unique!

Kaimei. ~


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